in the new Plantations for a contracted Sum of Money After this they receiv'd all sorts of Arms and Ammunition with several Brass Guns of the then King Lewis the XIII and other gifts Collected and gather'd out of their several Societies for two new Accadian Apostles Gilbert du Thet a subtile man of the same Order transported their Necessaries At this time all things going favorably with the Jesuits they made themselves Masters of Port Royal and began to raise a Fort on the River Pemtagovet but there their happy Proceedings were stop'd for Captain Argal before-mention'd Sailing thither in vindication of the English was encounter'd by du Thet who firing the first Gun on Argal was by him taken off with Chain-shot and taking Biard and Masse carry'd them Prisoners to Virginia and dismantled the Fort built at Port Royal after which it was by King James given by Patent to Sir William Alexander as hath been already related together with what of most remarkable hath happen'd since SECT VI. Norumbegua NOrumbegua Whence denominated lying between Nova Scotia Northward and New England Southward is so utterly not taken notice of by many as a distinct Province that it might seem to be swallow'd up and lost in the two Countreys between which it lies or at least to be thought a part of Virginia or New England for Virginia largely taken is said to contain New England Novum Belgium and Virginia especially so call'd and that so much the rather because the Bessabees accounted by Sanson d' Abbeville an ancient People of New England are written to have liv'd near the River Penobscot which is reckon'd to be the same with Pemtegovet or as some will have it Norumbegua from which or from a certain great City of that Name the Country for fancy's sake must needs be denominated but since most commonly we find it nam'd and treated of apart it will not be improper to follow that method carrying the Bounds of New England no farther Northward than the River Quinnebequi or Sagadahoc and so determining the main part of this Countrey to that space between the aforesaid River and Pemtegovet excepting a small Southerly portion upon the Banks of the River Chovacovet so that it appears chiefly situate under the forty third Degree of Northern Latitude Towns and Cities not certainly known As for the Towns or Cities of this Province there is but a very uncertain account to be given forasmuch as the pretended great City Norumbegua from whence the Province should take its Appellation is not acknowledg'd by any of the most authentick modern Writers nor in any late Voyage or Discovery any mention made either of that or any other considerable Town or City Dr. Heylin supposeth it to be no other than Agguncia a poor little Village that seems compos'd of a company of Hutts or Sheaves cover'd with the Skins of Beasts or the Barks of Trees But the most favourable conjecture is that it might haply be the Ruines of an ancient Town which the Natives call'd Arambeck and had probably deserted it long before the arrival of the Europeans in those parts however it is not very probable that the Name of the Countrey should be deriv'd from this City if ever there were any such or from the River which appears to have been term'd Norumbegua on purpose to make way for this derivation whereas Pomtegovet is the ancient Appellation that properly belongs to it nor hath any modern one been apply'd to it but that of Rio Grande by Buno in his Comment upon Philip Cluverius upon what ground is hard to tell since it is observ'd by Heylin and others to be neither large nor otherwise much to be commended being Navigable not above twenty or thirty Miles in respect of its many great Cataracts and Falls of Water an Inconvenience with which many other Rivers of America are prejudic'd and rendred impassable Before and about the Mouth of this River which is judg'd to be about eight or nine Miles broad lie many small Islands or rather Hills inviron'd with Water the chiefest of which is by the French call'd La Haute Isle from the high and Mountainous appearance of it to those that see it from afar off at Sea The aforemention'd Buno though he names as belonging to Norumbega these several places viz. Porto del Refugio Porto Reale Paradiso Flora and Angolema from some obscure French testimonies without particularising any Author yet he afterwards confesses that the Names given by the French and those apply'd by the Spaniards are so various and disagreeing and breed such a confusion that no Charts or Descriptions had concluded upon either As for those who will have Norumbega deriv'd from Norwegia in respect of a Colony brought thither from Norwey if the Etymologie be not a little too much forc'd the Invention may pass well enough till a better be found out The temperature and nature of its Soil In this Countrey the temperature of the Air is not bad nor the Soil unfruitful if it were well cultivated chiefly towards the Rivers and where it is not either overgrown with Woods or craggy with Hills and mountainous Rocks neither are the Woods unprofitable for they afford good Timber and all kind of necessary and useful Wood especially Beeches Fir-trees Wallnut-trees and other Nuts The Plains are very pleasant and yield good Pasturage onely the Maritime Coasts are so shallow and full of Sands that the Sailing near them is accounted somewhat dangerous and this may be imagin'd to be the reason that no Authors have yet met with any Ports or Havens belonging to this Countrey which they have thought worthy their notice CHAP. II. New England AS Canada is by some accounted a general Province containing New France L' Accadie Norumbega and other places so under Virginia largely taken are comprehended New England New Netherlands and Virginia properly so call'd however since that part which vulgarly goes under the Name of Virginia and New England were possess'd if not discover'd at several times and their Plantations promoted and propagated upon several occasions and by distinct Interests and since New England hath been look'd upon as a place considerable enough for Persons of very eminent quality to concern themselves in it we rather are induc'd to consider this Countrey as a principal part than as any way depending on or being any Branch or Portion of Virginia Situation of New England It lies between Norumbega which it hath Northward and New Netherlands Southward from forty one to forty five Degrees of Northern Latitude in the midst of the temperate Zone and paralell to France and some part of Italy in the Western Hemisphere so that one would think it should enjoy the same temperature of Air but the contrary is found for that part which borders upon the Sea is colder partly by reason that the Sea-waves break the reflexion of the Sun-beams partly by reason of the abundance of Vapors which mounting upward abate the ardor of them
but the more Inland parts of the Countrey are indifferently warm Moreover it hath been found by certain experience that those Countreys which look to wards the East or Sun-rising are colder than those which lie towards the West or Sun-setting and those that have the Evening Winds on them warmer than those which have the Morning Winds which being so it should follow that the temperature of the Air in those Regions is peculiar to the Bodies of those of our Nation who being accustom'd to a Climate somewhat temperate are neither able to endure extremity of Cold nor immoderate Heat Yet there are who affirm that New England though situate in the midst of the temperate Zone nevertheless feels both extremities of the two opposite Zones in the Summer the heat of the Torrid and in the Winter the cold of the Frigid As for the first discovery of this Countrey First discovery it is not to be expected otherwise than that of the discovery of those other Countreys hitherto discours'd of that is to say very uncertain but because the French boast of Joannes Verrazanus who though an Italian was employ'd by the French King Francis the First as the first Discoverer not onely of Nova Francia as hath been already intimated but also of this Countrey and the adjoyning Coast and Regions we shall not think it impertinent to give from their own Relations a brief view of his Voyage and afterwards a particular Description of the English Plantations there and of their Transactions both one with another and between them and the Nations The Narration of Verrazanus's Voyage is as followeth Remarkable Voyage of Verrazanus ON command of the French King Francis the First John Verrazanus Anno 1524. setting Sail Westward from the Canary Isles discover'd a low American Coast in thirty four Degrees North Latitude inhabited by naked People which behind the sandy Hills facing the Sea Manur'd many fruitful Plains Then Sailing a hundred Leagues along the Shore Northerly he view'd a Countrey full of Vines which grew up amongst the Boughs of high Trees and Sailing up a pleasant River Landed on the Island Clandia full of woody Mountains thence he stood for the main Continent where after having visited a King Clad in wrought Deer-skin he Sail'd by a Bay at whose Mouth appear'd a Rock in an Inlet twenty Leagues where appear'd five small Isles all of them exceeding fruitful After this being got a hundred and fifty Leagues to the Northward he found very salvage People whose Heads appear'd through Bear-skins and Sea-Calves By this time having Terreneuf on his Starboard he return'd back to Diepe Thus far Verrazanus made some discovery of the Coast which hath since not onely been farther inspected by the English but also by them Planted and call'd New England The setling of Plantations This Countrey whether first discover'd by the said Verrazanus or together with the rest of largely-taken Virginia by Sir Walter Raleigh or as some say by Captain Gosnald in the Year 1602. was so well known to the English in the beginning of King James's Reign here that the setling and carrying on of Plantations id this part of America was vigorously promoted by many of the most eminent Persons in England whereupon it was about the Year 1606. being the fourth Year of the said King granted by Patent to several Lords Knights Gentlemen and Merchants under the denomination of The Plymouth Company both in favour of those generous Spirits who studied and endeavor'd the good of the Publick by foreign Plantations and indulgence to those who not well satisfi'd with the Government of Church and State and willingly transporting themselves and Families thither as to their Asylum could more conveniently be spar'd than the better affected part of the People And although the Colonies at first sent over succeeded not according to expectation yet in a short time there Plantations were brought to very great perfection Captain Weimouth who had been employ'd there by the Lord Arundel of Warder for the discovery of the North-West Passage falling short of his Course hapned into a River on the Coast of America call'd Pemmaquid from whence he brought five of the Natives for England three of whose Names were Mannida Skettwarroes and Tasquantum and Landing at Plymouth presented them to Sir Ferdinando Gorges whom he made use of as Instruments for the farther advancement of these Plantations they were all of one Nation but of several parts and several Families he kept them with him three years and observing in them an inclination to vertuous Designs and Spirits above the Vulgar he gain'd information from them what great Rivers ran up into the Land what Men of note were seated on them what Power they were of how Ally'd what Enemies they had and the like and taking some light from thence sent away a Ship furnish'd with Men and all kind of Necessaries convenient for the Service intended under the Command of Captain Henry Chaloung a Gentleman of a good Family and very capable for Undertakings of this nature and giving him sufficient Instructions what to do sent along with him two of the said Natives for his better Conduct and Direction ordering him by all means to keep the Northerly Gage as high as Cape Briton till they had discover'd the Main and then to beat it up to the Southward as the Coast tended till they found by the Natives they were near the place to which they were assign'd By that time they were about a hundred Leagues off the Island of Canara the Captain fell sick of a Feaver and the Winds being Westerly his Company shap'd their Course for the Indies and coming to St. John de Porto Rico the Captain went ashore for the recovery of his Health whilst the Company took in Water and such other Provisions as they had present need of and spent some time in Hunting and other Recreations after which steering their intended Course they were met with by the Spanish Fleet that came from the Havana taken Prisoners and carried into Spain the Ship and Goods being confiscated the Voyage overthrown and the Natives lost Not long after the setting out of Chaloung Thomas Haman was sent by Sir John Popham Lord Chief Justice of England towards the River of Sagadehoc to the succour of Chaloung if need were but not finding him after he had scowr'd the Coast all about he return'd back into England Captain Prinne was likewise sent from Bristol who arriving happily in those Parts brought back with him at his return the most exact Discovery of that Coast that ever had been gain'd till then A while after at the Charge of the said Sir John Popham a hundred Men were sent to settle a Colony at Sagadehoc under the Command of George Popham Raleigh Gilbert Master of the Ship who seated themselves in a Peninsula at the Mouth of this River which attempting to discover they met with a Wood near to an Island distant from the Line about forty five
AMERICA AMERICA BEING THE LATEST AND MOST ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE NEVV VVORLD CONTAINING The Original of the Inhabitants and the Remarkable Voyages thither THE CONQUEST OF THE VAST EMPIRES OF Mexico and Peru AND OTHER LARGE PROVINCES and TERRITORIES WITH THE SEVERAL EUROPEAN PLANTATIONS IN THOSE PARTS ALSO Their Cities Fortresses Towns Temples Mountains and Rivers Their Habits Customs Manners and Religions Their Plants Beasts Birds and Serpents WITH An APPENDIX containing besides several other considerable Additions a brief Survey of what hath been discover'd of the Vnknown South-Land and the Arctick Region Collected from most Authentick Authors Augmented with later Observations and Adorn'd with Maps and Sculptures by JOHN OGILBY Esq His Majesty's Cosmographer Geographick Printer and Master of the Revels in the Kingdom of IRELAND LONDON Printed by the Author and are to be had at his House in White Fryers M.DC.LXXI A Catalogue of the Authors which are either mention'd or made use of in this Volume of America ABraham Mellinus Abraham Mylius Adriaen vander Donk Aelian Albertus Magnus Aldrete Aelius Lampridius Alexander Aphrodiensis Alexander ab Alexandro Alexander Guaginus Alonso Garcia Alonso de Ouagli Andraeas Caesariensis Angrin Jonas Antonio de Herrera Apuleius Aristonicus Grammaticus Aristotle Athanasius Kircher Augustinus Augustin de Tarcate Augustus Thuanus Ayton of Armenia Balthazar de Amizquita Barnaba Cabo Bartholomaeo de las Casas Benjamin Tudalensis Caspar Barlaeus Castaldus Charles Rochfort Christopher Arcisseuski Cicero Claude de Abbeville Clemens Alexandrinus Conradus Gesner Cornelius Nepos Cornelius Witfleet Ctesias Curtius Cyrianus David Ingran David Powel Diodorus Siculus Dionysius Halicarnassaeus Dirk Ruiters Dithmar Blefken Duarte Mendez Seraon Egydius Fletcher Emanuel de Moraez Erasmus Stella Erick Roothaer Everhard Reid Eusebius Euthymius Zibagenus Festus Avienus Francisc Burmannus Francisc Delapuente Francisc de Gomara Francisc Lopes de Gomesa Francisc Raphelingius Francisc Soarez Francisc Tirolmonte Francisc Xaverius Fullerus Galenus Garcilasso de la Vega Genebrardus Gerardus Joannes Vossius Guido de Brez Guilielm Piso Guilielm Postellus Harmannus Moded Henrick Haelbos Henrick Hawks Hernando de Leon Herodotus Hesychius Hieronim Benzo Hieronim Cardanus Homer Hugo Grotius Hugo Linschot Jacob Bontius Jacob Planensis Jacob Rabbi Inca Garcilasso Joannes Ardenois Joannes Bertius Joannes Chilton Joannes Gysius Joannes Johnstonus Jean de Laet Joannes de Ledesma Joannes Leonclavius Joannes Lery Joannes Mariana Joannes Nieuwhof Joan. van de Sande Joseph Acosta Joseph Anchieta Joseph Scaliger Isaacus Pontanus Isaac du Verne Isidorus Mendes Sequera Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Scaliger Lactantius Lauren. Ananias Lauren. Bikker Lauren. Guascus Gerascius Lauren. Keymis Levinus Lemmius Lieven Aizma Lopez Vaz Lucan Lucretius Lodowick Leo Lysander Manethon Persa Marcus Zeno Martin del Barco Martin Perez Matthaeus van den Broeke Matthiolus Melchior Soiterus Mich. Lithower Michovius Miles Philips Moses Nicolaus Zeno Olympiodorus Paulus Venetus Pedro de Ancieta Pedro Pizarro Pedro Fernandez de Quir Pedro Maria Peter Martyr Pedro Ordonnes de Cevallos Peter van Gendt Philo Judaeus Philippus Cluverius Philippus Mornaeus Phylarchus Piere Moreau Pinedas Plato Pliny Plutarch Pomponius Mela Proclus Procopius Quarterius Rabbi Simeon Robertus Comtaeus Sam. Purchas Sebastiaen Schroten Simplicius Salust Sigismond Baro Strabo Theodosio Theopompus Thevet Tertullian Trigaut Vegetius Virgil THE CONTENTS of the several CHAPTERS and SECTIONS The first Book AMerica unknown to the Ancients Fol. 1 Of the Original of the Americans whence they came when how and from what People Planted Fol. 11 First Discoverers of America with Christopher Colonus his Expedition Fol. 43 Pedro Alphonso Nigno his Voyage Fol. 56 The Voyage of Vincent Agnes Pinzon Fol. 58 The Expedition of Americus Vesputius Fol. 60 The Expedition of Alphonso Fogeda Diego Nicuesa Ancisus and Roderick Col. menares Fol. 65 Peter Arias his Expedition and the remarkable Passages of Vascus Nunnez Fol. 69 The Expedition of Francisco Fernandez Lupo Caizedo Christophero Morantes Bernardo Igniguez and Juan Grisalva Fol. 76 The Expedition of Ferdinand Magaglian commonly call'd Magellan Fol. 79 Ferdinando Cortez his Voyage Fol. 81 Diego Gottierez his Expedition Fol. 92 The Expedition of Pedro Alvarado Francisco and Gonzalvo Pizarro and Diego de Almagro Fol. 95 The Expeditions of John Stade and Nicholas Durando Villegagnon Fol. 103 The Expedition of John Ribald Renatus Laudonier and Gurgie Fol. 105 Four English Expeditions under the Command of our famous Sea-Captains Martin Forbisher Sir Francis Drake Thomas Candish and John Smith Fol. 108 A Netherland Expedition by Jaques Mahu and Simon de Cordes Fol. 110 The Expedition of Oliver van Noord Fol. 113 The Expedition of George van Spilbergen Fol. 115 The Expedition of Corneliszoon Schouten and Jacob Le Maire Fol. 117 The Voyage of the Nassavian Fleet under the Command of Jaques le Heremite and Hugo Schapenham Fol. 120 Henry Brewer his Voyage Fol. 122 The Second Book OF the Bounds of America and of the Division of the Mexican or Northern part thereof Fol. 125 Estotiland Fol. 126 Terra Laboratoris Fol. 128 Canada or New France Fol. 129 Accadia or Nova Scotia Fol. 133 Norumbegua Fol. 138 New England Fol. 139 New Netherland now call'd New York Fol. 168 A new Description of Mary-Land Fol. 183 Virginia Fol. 192 The Relation of Captain Smith 's being taken Prisoner by Powhatan and his deliverance by his Daughter Pocahonta Fol. 202 Carolina Fol. 205 Florida Fol. 213 Jucatan Fol. 222 Guatimala Fol. 224 Vera Paz Fol. 227 Honduras Fol. 229 Nicaragua Fol. 232 Costarica Fol. 235 Veragua ibid. Guatimala properly so call'd ibid. The Kingdom of Mexico or New Spain Fol. 238 Mechoacan Fol. 261 Tlascalla Fol. 264 Guaxata Fol. 268 Panuco Fol. 270 Tabasco Fol. 273 New Gallicia Fol. 281 Guadalajara Fol. 284 Xalisco Fol. 285 Chiametla ibid. Couliacan Fol. 286 Cinoloa Fol. 288 Zacatecas Fol. 289 New Biscay Fol. 290 New Mexico Fol. 291 Cibola Tontonteac and Nova Granada Fol. 298 Quivira Fol. 301 Terra Nova or New-found Land with the Island of Assumption Fol. 304 The Bermudas or Summer-Islands Fol. 311 Hispaniola Fol. 314 Porto Rico and Monico Fol. 327 Cuba Fol. 331 Jamaica Fol. 337 The Islands call'd The Lucaies Fol. 344 The Caribbee-Islands Fol. 345 Anegada and Sombrero Fol. 362 Las Virgines Fol. 363 Anguilla ibid. Saba Fol. 364 St. Crux ibid. St. Martin Fol. 365 St. Bartholomew Fol. 367 Barboude Fol. 368 Rotonda ibid. Nevis ibid. Eustathius Fol. 369 Antego Fol. 370 Montserrat ibid. Guadalupe Fol. 371 Deseado Fol. 372 Marigalante ibid. Todos Sanctos Fol. 373 De Aves ibid. Dominico Fol. 375 Martinico Fol. 376 St. Lucia Fol. 377 Barbados ibid. St. Vincent Fol. 380 Bekia Fol. 381 Granada ibid. Tabago Fol. 382 St. Christophers Fol. 383 California Fol. 389 The Third Book CAstella Aurea otherwise call'd Terra Firma Fol. 394 Panama Fol. 395 Darien Fol. 399 New Andaluzia Fol. 400 St. Martha Fol. 403 Rio de la Hacha Fol. 405 New Granada Fol. 406 Granada Fol. 408 Popayana Fol. 409 Peru Fol. 412 Quito Fol. 441 Los Quixos Fol. 446 Lima
to England Not many Months after he renew'd his Voyage Queen Elizabeth having rigg'd out and sent under his Command one Frigat and two Ketches Mann'd with a hundred and forty Men The twenty sixth of May hâ— weigh'd Anchor and sail'd to the Orkenies lying to the North of Scotland where landing he found the poor Islanders fled out of their Huts into Caves and Dens among the Rocks From thence he steer'd North-North-West through abundance of floating Pieces of Timber which oftentimes gave him great stops The fourth of July he made Friezland where he met with a great Storm of Hail mix'd with Snow Before the Shore lay a great Ridge of Ice which hindred for a while their Landing Here he saw several Wild People but could not come to speak with them for upon the least approach they fled yet when they saw any advantage made resistance At last three of them came unarm'd to the Shore beckoning Forbisher to come to them which he had done had not great numbers of the Natives appear'd too soon from an Ambuscade in a Wood and behind a Hill who seeing themselves discover'd march'd up into the Countrey three onely staying on the Shore of whom the middlemost feigning to be lame at last fell down whom his Companions took up and carried a little way but then forsook by which the English observing their Design shot that the Sand flew all about him whereupon forgetting his Lameness he ran as swift as a Deer up a Hill Forbisher's Men had by this time fill'd two Barrels with a Mineral not unlike Gold but was afterwards found to be of little value Nothing else of Remark did he find here except great long-hair'd Men who being exceeding salvage subtilly plot nothing else but to murder lurking for Men like Wild Beasts for their Prey whom when caught they tear in pieces Close fitted to their Bodies they wore the Skins of several Wild Beasts priding in the Tails which hung down betwixt their Legs Their Tents are of conjoyn'd Whalebones cover'd over with the like Skins the Entrance always facing the South They use Bowes Arrows Slings and two sorts of Boats In the biggest they can carry seventeen Men which are made of several Wooden Planks clinch'd together and cased on both sides with Leather The smallest ones are cover'd just in the same manner much resembling a Weavers Shuttle having in the middle a Hole wherein a Man sits who drawing the Cover of the Boat about his Waste by Strings with one Oar makes swift Passage The Countrey it self is barren yet feeds abundance of Deer Hares Wolves Bears and Dogs like Wolves whose Flesh serves the Inhabitants for Food This Countrey seems to be exceedingly troubled with great Earthquakes because several pieces of Rocks and whole Mountains rent asunder may be seen in divers places Sir Francis Drake's Expedition At the same time when Forbisher sail'd Northerly Sir Francis Drake also fitted out by Queen Elizabeth steer'd another Course sailing by Cape Blanko and Cape Verde along the African Coast to Brasile where he caught several Sea-Wolves and Anchoring in the River La Plata furnish'd himself with Fresh Water Then proceeding on his Voyage through the crooked Straights of Magellan he came to an Anchor before Moucha wash'd by the South Sea The Islanders receiv'd him very courteously because they were inform'd that the English were at great Wars with the Spaniards to avoid whose Cruelties they had deserted the main Continent and setled on Moucha One of these Mouchaners going aboard serv'd them for a Pilot to the Haven Valparizo where Drake burnt the St. Jago a small Village and plundring all the Countrey about it got together a great Treasure of Gold and Silver Before Arica he took three Spanish Ships richly laden and before Lima four more having an unvaluable Treasure of Pearls and Gold aboard them Thus inrich'd he steer'd his Course Northerly to forty two Degrees but the Cold forcing him to fall four Degrees to the Southward he discover'd a very pleasant and inhabited Coast the People whereof shew'd him great kindness The King himself coming aboard with a great Train set a Crown of Gold upon Drakes Head and gave him a Golden Scepter and an Ivory Chain After this he inspected the Islands Tidor Ternata Java Zeilon and Cape de Bona Esperanza from whence after a three Years Voyage having encompass'd the World he came safe to London where he rested not long for sailing Anno 1585. to America he took great Prizes from the Cities St. Jago St. Domingo St. Augustin and Carthagena setting them all on Fire Thus again returning home victoriously and after the famous defeat of the Spanish Armado he rigg'd out a new Fleet having for his Vice-Admiral Captain Hawkins Their Design was to have sail'd to Panama but both dying and so the Commission ceasing the expected great and golden Project also died with them Candish his Expedition A Year after the death of these famous Navigators Captain Thomas Candish Mann'd with a hundred and twenty Men and Provisions for two Year setting sail in a lucky Hour a second time encompass'd the World passing the Straights of Magellan in which Voyage having got above ten times the value of his Charge by taking the Spanish Carrack St. Anna valued at twenty Tun of Gold and at last freighted with a Mass of Treasure he came safe into the River of Thames But much worse success had Captain John Smith Smith's Voyage who weigh'd Anchor Anno 1614. with two Ships fitted out by several Merchants in London for New England and on the Island Monachigga to load Copper Gold and other Minerals that were to be had there and also to fish for Whales But there were no such Minerals to be found there nor any Whales to be taken on the Coast because the time of the Year was past so that he return'd home without Success However not long after they undertook the same Expedition a second time but with worse Fortune for being gotten in sight of Virginia he was treacherously set upon and taken by the French who accus'd him that he had destroy'd the Plantations in Nova Francia and unless he would make satisfaction for the Damage they threatned him with death He was carried Prisoner to Rochel in a French Ship but not far from thence surpris'd by a mighty Storm Smith finding an opportunity leap'd into the Boat and driving betwixt the Waves at last half dead was thrown upon the Island of Oleron whom afterwards having lost all an English Ship took in and brought to his Native Countrey SECT XV. Netherland Expedition by Jaques Mahu and Simon de Cordes FIve Ships being fitted out at Rotterdam Mahu's Voyage the Command of them was given to Jaques Mahu and Simon de Cordes who on the twenty seventh of June Anno 1598. weigh'd Anchor from the Goree and sail'd on an immense Voyage at last landing at the Island St. Jago they won a strong Castle there and took two Barques
of Provisions and Lodgings those that were Landed expected nothing but Death till they found out a small Hut and in the same six brave Sheep and a good quantity of Potatoe Roots which serv'd for Bread But when this their new-found Store was almost spent they happily were fetch'd off by the Boat belonging to the Ship Amsterdam and with the whole Fleet came to an Anchor before Baldivia Baldivia a brave City This City built by the Castilians consisted formerly of five hundred and fifty fair Houses and was divided into Streets and cross Ways with two large Markets and as many costly Churches The Chileses unsufferably oppress'd slew all the Spanish Garrison and into the Governor's Mouth and Ears pour'd melted Gold of his Skull they made a Drinking-cup and of his Shin-bones Trumpets after this the City fell almost to decay onely a great part of the Wall remain'd yet standing The Chileans hereupon flock'd hither by thousands some on Horses others on Foot all Arm'd with Lances of a Foot long Herkman hereupon informing them by an Interpreter that they being mortal Enemies of the Spaniards would joyn with the Chileans against that common Foe and desir'd that they might build a Fort on the Market-place in Baldivia for a defence against all Invasions and that they might be supply'd with Provisions which the Fleet wanted all which the Chileans granted and accordingly brought in store of Sheep Hogs and Cattel But so soon as Herkman began to make the least mention of Gold they were all abash'd and said that they knew of no Gold Mines nay their Hair stood an end when they heard the name of Gold so horribly the Spaniards had dealt with their Parents Why the Chiloses grew strange to the Hollanders After this the Chileans growing more and more strange did not in the least countenance the building of the Fort and the longer the Fleet staid the less Provisions they brought aboard upon which the Ships were necessitated without any remarkable Exploits to set Sail and return to Reciffo The Second Book CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF Northern America CHAP. I. Of the Bounds of America and of the Division of the Mexican or Northern part thereof The Bounds and Division of Northern America HAving in the first Part of this Volume discours'd at large concerning the Original of the Americans and whether that part of the World call'd India Occidentalis or America were known to the Ancients or own its Discovery wholly to the Moderns as also of all the Discoveries that have been made of the several parts thereof and by whom we shall now pass on to the Topographical part describing every particular Province or Region by giving an Account of their Situation Temperature Productions Nature of the Soil and Quality of the Inhabitants America lying Westward of the Azores and the Worlds Meridian is by some suppos'd to consist of one vast Island and several lesser ones scatter'd about it Nor can this Supposition be thought improbable if as many think it be environ'd with Sea on the North side as towards the East South and West it is known to be East by the Atlantick Ocean South by the Magellanick Straight and West by Mare del Zur But because the North-West Passage though attempted by many as Nelson Davis Forbisher Button Smith Hudson and others hath not yet been fully discover'd by any so that it is not certainly known whether America be joyn'd to Groenland and the Arctick Region by a continu'd Tract of Land or sever'd by the Ocean we shall follow the method of those Geographers who reputed sufficiently authentick have divided this New World into Islands and two grand Peninsula's joyn'd together by an Isthmus or Neck of Land call'd The Straight of Darien by some The Straight of Panama lying almost under the Equinoctial Line and extending in length from Nombre de Dios Southward above a hundred English Miles and from East to West seventeen Miles over in the narrowest place Of these two grand Peninsula's the Northern is generally call'd America Mexicana from Mexico the chief City of the Province properly call'd Mexicana which without doubt was heretofore the most potent rich and flourishing of all the Kingdoms of the Indians at least on the North side of the Isthmus In the Division of the several Provinces of America as well those of the Northern as of the Southern Continent we find so various an Account among the several Geographers that have written of them not any two of them agreeing in one and the same order that to reconcile the differing methods of so many disagreeing Authors would be an endless Work wherefore we shall pitch upon the surest course and not omitting the mention of any of the Provinces taken notice of by the said Authors hereby endeavor to take in whatsoever material hath been observ'd by all of them and by the way take occasion to shew how one differs from another in the distribution of them Those therefore of the Northern America that as near as can be we may bring many into one seem most fitly describ'd in this following order 1. Estotiland 2. Terra Laboratoris or Nova Britannia 3. Canada or Nova Francia 4. Nova Scotia 5. Norumbegua 6. New England 7. New Netherland now call'd New York as being in the possession of the English 8. Mary-Land 9. Apalchen now call'd Virginia 10. Carolina 11. Florida 12. Jucatan 13. Guatimala containing Chiapa Vera Paz Honduras Nicaragua Costarica Veragua Guatimala properly so call'd 14. The Kingdom of Mexico or New Spain containing the Arch-bishoprick of Mexico Mechoacan Tlascalla Guaxata Panuco Tabasco 15. New Gallicia containing Guadalajara Xalisco Chiametla Couliacan Cinoloa Zacatecas 16. New Biscay 17. New Mexico 18. Cibola wherein are mention'd Tontonteac and Nova Granada 19. Quivira to which by most Authors is added California which being an Island we thought fit to reserve to be spoken of among the Islands as also Terra Nova or New-found Land which last lies utmost East as the other West of Northern America Some there are also and particularly Monsieur De Martini who among the above-mention'd Provinces have inserted Groenland though doubtless with little reason since should it be granted that it is not divided by any Sea yet it is evident if any credit may be given to all modern Maps and Globes that the greatest part of Groenland lies in the Hemisphere of the known World and therefore we have judg'd it most convenient to refer the particular mention thereof to the Description of the Arctick Region The Islands of Northern America are 1. Terra Nova or New-found Land 2. The Island of Assumption 3. The Bermudas or Summer-Islands 4. Hispaniola 5. St. John Porto Rico. 6. Cuba 7. Jamaica 8. The Lucayes 9. The Caribbees being twenty eight in number 10. The Isles of Sotavento 11. Trinidado and 12. California the biggest of all the American Islands The Extent and Circumference of the West-Indies The length of the West-Indies is
aptness for Cultivation or Tillage that is because by the painful Hand of the Labourer or Husband-man it may be rendred so fertile as to yield all sorts of Grain and Fruits haply in allusion to that fruitful Countrey of Campania in Italy vulgarly known by the Name of Terradi Lavoro As for the Appellation of Terra Corterealis it need not be question'd but that it derives it self from Gaspar Corterealis a Portuguese Gentleman who about the Year of our Lord 1500. is thought by some to have made the first discovery of these Parts though Sir Sebastian Cabot a Venetian is more generally believ'd to have been the Man that under the favour and countenance of Henry the Seventh King of England first discover'd them at least the adjoyning Island Terra Nova or New-found Land but just onely discover'd being hinder'd the farther prosecution of that Design by the important Affairs in which the said King was about that time involv'd neither did Corterealis whether he was the first or came after do any more for returning within a year after his first setting out he was never heard of nor as Osorius a Portuguese Historian writes any of his Company being all suppos'd to have been drown'd by Shipwrack and in like manner Michael Corterealis who the year following set forth with two Ships in quest of his Brother Gaspar Upon which series of Misfortunes the Portuguese being wholly discourag'd and giving over this Design the French of Armorica or Bretany succeed them in it with somewhat better success about the Year 1504. whereupon it came to be term'd Nova Britannia or New Britain The ancient Inhabitants of this place were formerly of a Nature like the generality of the American People somewhat bruitish and salvage but by long conversation with the French are said to have cast off their original wildness and become more civilly manner'd they are very jealous of their Wives by report much addicted to Soothsaying though otherwise having little of Religion or of any other kind of Learning they dwell for the most part in Caves under Ground feed chiefly upon Fish and are accounted most expert Archers Whatever places the French have built here besides those of chiefest note are St. Maries Cabo Marzo and Brest SECT IV. Canada or New France CAnada as it is taken for one and the same Province with New France contains New France properly so call'd Nova Scotia Norumbega and some adjoyning Islands as the Canada of Cluverius lying more North-Westerly comprehends as we have already intimated Estotiland Laboratoris and Corterealis and according to the most modern Division for that of Cluverius neither consents with the latest Authors nor agrees with exact Survey it being nam'd Canada in respect the River Canada runs through it hath on the North Terra Corterealis on the South New England and on the East the Ocean and hath between forty five and fifty two or fifty three Degrees of Northern Latitude Situation The River Canada is judg'd to be the largest of all the Rivers of America as those Rivers generally the largest of all in the World besides it rises in the Western parts of this Province which remain yet undiscover'd and in some places spreads it self into huge Lakes some of them a hundred Miles in compass with many little Islands dispersed up and down in them and so running from the West about a hundred Leagues falls at last into the North part of St. Lawrence Bay being that wide Emboucheure of thirty five Miles breadth already mention'd This River is extraordinary full of Fish among which there is one sort more remarkable than the rest call'd by the Inhabitants Cadhothuis having Heads resembling the Heads of Hares and Bodies as white as Snow they are taken for the most part before the Isle de Lievres The Countrey on both sides of the River is pleasant and indifferently fertile especially towards the South-West where upwards from the River the Ground rises into many little Hills invested most of them with Vines with which and several other sorts of Trees this Countrey abounds being well water'd with a great many lesser Streams all of them falling into the River Canada That this Countrey is term'd New France First discovery from having been discover'd by the French at least more fully than before there needs no question to be made but whether Joannes Verrazanus under Francis the First of France or Sebastian Cabot before spoken of were the first in this Discovery may admit of some dispute the Cabots indeed for John the Father is by some mention'd to have accompanied his Son who by all are own'd the first Discoverers of New-found-Land and Terra de Baccalaos are also commonly reputed to have first found out the Province of New France together with some parts adjacent though perhaps it might be upon this Ground that Terra de Nova or New-found-Land not being known at first to be an Island New France and that might be taken for one continu'd Province and it appears so much the more probable because Canada or Nova Francia is by some call'd Terra Nova however it be or whoever were the first Adventurers Quarteri and Champlain are the two French-men that have gain'd so much fame by making a more ample and particular search into these parts that this Province may seem from thence to have sufficient claim to the Title of New France whereof that part more especially so call'd lies on the North-side of the River Canada and Southward to Terra Corterealis The Winter is here very long and so much the more severe by reason of a cold North-West Wind which blows most part of the Winter Season and brings with it so thick a Snow that it continues upon the Ground most commonly till after May. The Countrey is for the most part wooddy but in the Champain parts thereof very fruitful of Corn and all sorts of Grain especially Pulse It hath also Fish Fowl wild Deer Bears Marterns and Foxes in abundance and of Hares such plenty that one of the little Islands belonging to this Province is by the French nam'd L' Isle des Lievres or The Island of Hares But the most peculiar Commodity belonging to this Countrey is the Esurgnuy a kind of Shell-Fish extraordinary white and approv'd of singular vertue for the stanching of Blood to which purpose they make Bracelets of them not onely for their own use but also to vend them to others but John de Laet and others have observ'd no other than a superstitious use of them amongst the Salvages in their Funeral Rites for the Dead the manner of their taking it is very remarkable for when any one is condemn'd to die or taken Prisoner they cut off all his fleshy parts in long slices and then throw him into the River where they let him lie twelve hours and at last pulling him out again find his Wounds full of Esurgnui Quadus and Maginus make mention of three ancient Towns namely
Degrees and some odd Seconds where they easily went on Shore In the Year 1608. the Commander of the Colony deceasing and not long after him the Lord Chief Justice who had been the chief that had furnish'd them with fresh Supplies they return'd for England in those Ships that had been sent them with Succours At which unexpected return the Patrons of the Design were so offended that for a certain time they desisted from their Enterprizes In the mean while the French making use of this occasion Planted Colonies in divers places when Sir Samuel Argal from Virginia disturb'd their Designs and brought away Prisoners all he could lay hold on Suddenly after Captain Hobson and divers others were set out with very great Preparations and with them two of the Natives which had been detain'd for some time in England whom they thought to have made use of the better to draw the rest of the Natives to their Commerce but because a little before twenty four of them had been treacherously dealt with by one Hunt they contracted from thence so great an animosity towards the English that Captain Hobson was constrain'd to return without effecting any thing In the Year 1614. Captain John Smith being sent to Fish for Whales and seek after Mines of Gold and Silver Landed upon the Island of Monahiggan where he found some store of Whales but not such as those by whose Oyl they use to make so much profit About the same time two of the Natives being recover'd Erpenow of Capawick that had escap'd from Captain Hobson and Assacumet of Pemmaquid one of those that had been taken Prisoners with Chaloung Captain Harly with Necessaries convenient for such a Voyage was dispatch'd away by Sir Ferdinando Gorges the Earl of Southampton favouring the Design and furnishing him with some Land-Soldiers under the Command of Captain Hobson who not discourag'd with his former ill Success resolv'd upon a second Adventure In the Year 1615. Sir Richard Hakings undertook a Voyage into those Parts by authority of the Council of the second Colony but by reason of the great Wars among the Natives his Observations could not be such as might give any farther light than what had been already receiv'd Soon after which Captain Dormer coming for England from New-found-Land and Landing at Plymouth apply'd himself to the Governor by whom he was dispatch'd away with Direction to meet Captain Rocroft sent away a little before but Rocroft being dead by that time Dormer could come after him to Virginia where he heard he was he returning to Capawick was there set upon by Erpenow the foremention'd Salvage and other Indians that were Conspirators with him and within a short while after at Virginia whither he went to be cur'd of the Wounds he receiv'd in that Assassination he fell sick and died About the Year 1623. Captain Robert Gorges newly come out of the Venetian War was employ'd by the Council of New Englands Affairs as the Lieutenant-General to regulate the Abuses of divers Fisher-men and other Interlopers who without License frequented those Coasts for which Service he had assign'd to him all that part of the main Land situate upon the North-East side of the Bay of the Messachasets By these several Colonies sent so thick one after another both a full Discovery of the Countrey came to be made and a large gap open'd to the free possession thereof yet in regard of the many disappointments and misfortunes the several Companies sent over met with and counting the vast Charges their setting forth cost the Undertakers which would have been still increas'd by the need of continu'd Supplies in all probability New England would have been but thinly peopled to this day had not a great Tide of People possess'd with an aversion to the Church-Government of England and fled into Holland for Liberty of Conscience eagerly taken hold of this opportunity to make themselves Masters of their own Opinions and of a Place where they might erect a Government suitable thereunto and though at first there were some Exceptions taken as if this Countrey was to be made a Receptacle of Sectaries and such as condemn'd the Ecclesiastical Government of the Nation insomuch that Sir Ferdinando Gorges to whom they apply'd themselves desiring him to mediate for them to the Council of New Englands Affairs when they perceiv'd the Authority they had from the Virginia Company could not warrant their abode there had enough to do notwithstanding his Apology That these things hapned contrary to his expectation to wipe away the jealousie which was entertain'd of him it being Order'd that no more should be suffer'd to pass into New England but such as should take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy yet at last there was little notice taken who went perhaps upon consideration that the vast resort of People thither would be of greater advantage to the Plantations than their different Opinions at so remote a distance could be prejudicial so long as they acknowledg'd Obedience to the King and Civil Power However Sir Ferdinando to clear himself the better mov'd those Lords that were the chief Actors in the Business to resign their Grand Patent to the King and pass particular Patents to themselves of such part of the Countrey along the Sea-Coast as might be sufficient for them To this Motion there being a general Assent given by the Lords and a Day appointed for the conclusion thereof an Act was made for the Resignation of the Patent alloting to each Man their several Bounds From the uttermost parts began the Limits of the Lord Mougrave and ended at Hudson's River To the Eastward of which River for the space of sixty Miles in length was plac'd the Duke of Richmond's Assignment Next to him was setled the Earl of Carlile Next him the Lord Edward Gorges Next the Marquess of Hamilton Then Captain John Mason And lastly his own which extended to the great River Sagadehoc being sixty Miles and so up into the Main Land a hundred and twenty Miles which he was pleas'd to call by the Name of The Province of Main The Landing of the English in Plymouth Plantation was very much facilitated by the great Mortality that hapned amongst the Indians about that time amongst the Pecods Narragansets Nianticks Tarantines Wippanaps and those of Abargini Agissawang and Pockanekie their Powwows or Doctors seeing with amazement their Wigwams or Streets lie full of dead Bodies and in vain expecting help from Squantam their good or Abbamoch their bad God Not long before that blazing Comet so much talk'd of in Europe apppear'd after Sun-setting in their Horizon South-West for the space of thirty Sleeps for so they reckon their Days They Landed at first with little or no resistance a handful of Men onely being sent before to keep possession for their Companions who arriv'd eight days after when the Natives appearing with their Bowes and Arrows let flie their long Shafts amongst them whereupon one Captain Miles Standish with his Fowling-piece
shot the stoutest Sachem amongst the Indians as he was reaching an Arrow from his Quiver which the rest seeing fled into the Woods and Thickets The same Year the Merchant-Advenurers in England sent forth store of Servants to provide against the Wants of that place amongst whom came over a mix'd Multitude who setled themselves in the Bosom of the Cape now call'd Gloucester About the Year 1651. there fled to the English at Water-town the Indians that dwelt thereabouts for protection against the Tarratines a sort of cruel and salvage Cannibals by whom near the Town of Saugust in the very dead time of the Night one Lieutenant Walker being on a sudden alarm'd was shot through his Coat and Buff Jacket with two Indian Arrows That Night the English stood upon their Guard and the next Morning sent word to other parts who gather'd together and taking counsel how to quit themselves of these Indians agreed to discharge their great Guns whose redoubled noise ratling in the Rocks struck terror into the Indians and caus'd them to betake themselves to flight The Autumn following others of the Indians who till then had held a good correspondence with the Planters began to quarrel about the Bounds of their Land but a great Mortality by the raging of the Small-Pox breaking out amongst them put an end to that Controversie There died amongst the rest one of the chief of the Sagamores of the Mattachusets call'd Sagamore John who before his Death had been instructed in the Christian Faith and took care that his two Sons should be nurtur'd therein In the Year 1635. there arrived several Ships with great plenty of Provisions and many Persons of good Quality and amongst the rest Sir Henry Vane The same Year the People of Cambridge otherwise call'd New-town hearing of a fertile place upon the River Canectico remov'd thither and erected anew Corporation by the Name of Banectico being encourag'd thereunto by the Lord Say and the Lord Brooks and planting a Forrest at the mouth of the River call'd it Saybrook Forrest About the Year 1638. the Pequods a stout and Warlike Nation lying to the South-West of the Mattachusets were discover'd upon their March within some few Miles of Hartford Their coming very much terrifi'd all that inhabited thereabouts but they took onely three Women and return'd one of whom making a violent resistance had her Brains beaten out the other two they carried away with them without abusing their Persons as it was suppos'd they would for they esteem'd their own Shaws being black beyond our Women Their chief Design was to learn to make Gunpowder which seeing they could not effect they look'd upon their Prize as nothing so precious as they imagin'd A little after another Indian War threatning the English they resolv'd together to send an Ambassador to Cannonicus chief Sachem of the Naragansits endeavoring to prevent him from confederating with the Pequods who as they had Intelligence were about sending to him to joyn with them Cannonicus being grown old had resign'd the Government to his Nephew Mantinemo a stern Man and of a cruel Nature The Ambassadors arriving at his Court which was about eighty Miles from Boston the Indian Prince assembled his chief Councellors and having Entertain'd the Ambassadors Magnificently and Feasted them Royally gave them Audience in his State-house where the Sachem to manifest his greater State lay along upon the Ground with all his Nobility sitting about him with their Legs doubled up and their Knees touching their Chin The English Interpreter having made his Speech in the Name of the rest both Cannonicus and the young King gave discreet Answers signifying their Resolutions to keep a fair Correspondence with the English and yet not to fall out with the Pequods Who a little after making also their Addresses to the same King he disswaded them by many Reasons from making War with the English and to deliver into their hands those Persons that had murther'd any of them The Pequods nevertheless though they seem'd inclinable to his Counsel yet they acted as Enemies for when the English sent a Company of Soldiers into their Countrey to treat with them about delivering up the Murtherers they made shew of willingness but spying their advantage betook themselves to their Heels and whomsoever they took stragling by surprise they revil'd and insulted over in a most cruel manner vilifying the Christian Religion and uttering all the Blasphemies they could invent Whereupon they rais'd fresh Souldiers for the War to the number of four score out of the several Towns in the Mattachusets and with some Indian Guides came to their Fort within which they had pitch'd their Wigwams the Entrance being on two sides with intricate Meanders to enter at which were plac'd Indian Bowe-men who shot the foremost of the English yet they had little to boast of in the end for the English rushing in through the winding Ways and placing themselves round the Wigwams made a very prosperous Shot by directing the Muzzles of their Musquets against the Indians which lay sleeping on the Ground In the midst of which rouzing terror and confusion they were defeated with little ado most of them being either wounded kill'd or taken The English thus animated with the first Victory send their Prisoners to the Pinnaces and prosecute the War in Hand marching against the next Body of the Indians which lay Encamp'd on a Hill about two Miles distant where they gave them a second Overthrow slaying many more than in the first Engagement the rest flying to a very thick inaccessible Swamp or Bog were there besieg'd by the English and skulking up and down as they saw their opportunity they would Shoot at them with their Arrows and then suddenly fall flat along in the Water at last the English finding out a Passage into the Swamp utterly defeated them and put an end to the War with the loss of few Mens Lives and not many wounded In the Year 1640. there came over a fresh Supply of People into New England and finding no place to settle in within any of the former erected Colonies they repair'd to a place call'd Long Island sever'd from the Continent of New-Haven about sixty Miles off the Sea The Year following the four Colonies namely the Massachusets Plymouth Canectico and New-Haven taking into consideration the many Nations that were on all sides of them as the French Dutch Jews and native Indians as also how the three first went to lay claim to Lands they never had any right to and the last to be continually quarrelling and contending where they saw any hopes of prevailing by Commissioners chosen from the respective Colonies concluded a firm Confederation to assist each other in all just and lawful Wars upon which there came in certain Indian Sachems as Pomham Miantonemo Soccanocoh and Uncas who not onely submitted to the English Government but also if occasion were in matters of Controversie submitted to their Arbitration But the Contest between
Miantonemo and Uncas was too hot to be appeas'd though the English were not wanting to interpose unless by the Blood of one of them as will appear by the Consequence Uncas was a Prince of For whose Life Miantonemo though a much more potent Prince sought to take away by treachery hiring a young Man of the Pequod Nation to murther him as the following Story renders suspected for one dark Evening this Sachem passing from one Wigwam to another was Shot through the Arm with an Arrow but recovering the Palace had the Arrow pull'd out and his Arm cur'd the young Man that was suspected being examin'd how he came by that great store of Wampompeage which was found about him and being able to give no good account it increas'd the suspicion and induc'd Uncas to complain to the English at a General Court held at Boston Whereupon the young Man was Examin'd in the presence of Miantonemo who came thither with his Attendants but the young Man tutor'd as suppos'd by Miantonemo pretended that Uncas had enjoyn'd him to feign that he was hir'd by Miantonemo to kill him To which Tale of his little belief being given it was concluded upon farther Examination of him in private that he had done the Fact nevertheless they let him depart with Miantonemo advising him to send him home to Uncas but he in stead of returning him cut off his Head and forthwith gather'd an Army of a thousand Men to fight with Uncas who met him with half the Men the Battel being joyn'd the Narragansets though the far greater multitude were beaten by the Wawhiggins through the Valour of Uncas their Prince who perfected his Victory by possessing himself of the Person of Miantonemo whom having put his Life-guard to flight he carried away with him in triumph to the Town of Hartford desiring to have the advice of the United Colonies what to do with his Prisoner Whereupon the Commissioners having had sufficient proof of Miantonemo's treachery towards this Prince advis'd Uncas to put him to death but not to exercise that barbarous kind of cruelty which is usual amongst them in these Cases The Sachem upon this advice not long after pretended to remove him to a safer place but by the Way caus'd him to be Executed His Subjects and Kindred were troubled at his Death but the little Princes his Neighbors over whom he had tyranniz'd rather rejoyc'd In the Year 1645. the Sons of old Canonnicus their Father being dead began to fall into hot Contentions with their Neighbors and being forbidden by the United Colonies they did not stick to threaten Wars to the English also Whereupon the Commissioners rais'd an Army of Horse and Foot and made Major General Edward Gibbons Commander in Chief over them But the Indians hearing of this Preparation sent some of their chief Nobility to the Commissioners of the United Colonies who were assembled at Boston to Treat about Peace to which the Commissioners agreed upon condition they should pay a part of the Charges of the War and that they should send four of their Sons for Hostages till the Sum was paid and the Hostages being sent back before the Wapom was all paid the two Princes Pesicus and Mexanimo upon the sending a Company of Armed Men to demand it sent the remainder of the Money In the Year 1647. divers Persons of Quality ventur'd their Estates upon an Iron Mill which they began at Braintree but it profited the Owners little rather wasting their Stock the price of Labor in matters of that nature being double or treble to what it is in England These are the most material Transactions we find deliver'd by any one which hapned from the first discovery till the Year before mention'd what hath hapned from that time to this chiefly relates to the several Revolutions that have been in England and shall be therefore taken notice of when we come to speak of the Government of these Plantations The Commodities of this Countrey together with the Trees and other sorts of Plants Though there are who having remain'd some time and been concern'd in those Parts affirm the Soil of New England to be nothing so fruitful as it is believ'd and commonly deliver'd to be yet we think it not improper to give a brief account of the Trees and other Plants also the Beasts Birds Fishes and other Commodities which most Writers will have to be the production of this Countrey especially since we find them compactly summ'd up by an unknown Writer in the Language of the Muses The recital of the Plants and Trees which excepting the Cedar Sassafras and Dyers Sumach are all of the same kind with those that grow in Europe onely differing in nature according as the Epithets of many of them declare is as follows Trees both in Hills and Plains in plenty be The long-liv'd Oak and mournful Cypress Tree Skie-towring Pines and Chesnuts coated rough The lasting Cedar with the Walnut tough The Rozen-dropping Fir for Mast in use The Boat-men seek for Oars light neat grown Sprewse The brittle Ash the ever-trembling Asps The broad-spread Elm whose Concave harbors Wasps The Water-spungy Alder good for nought Small Eldern by the Indian Fletchers sought The knotty Maple pallid Birch Hawthorns The Horn-bound Tree that to be cloven scorns Which from the tender Vine oft takes his Spouse Who twines embracing Arms about his Boughs Within this Indian Orchard Fruits be some The ruddy Cherry and the jetty Plumb Snake-murthering Hazle with sweet Saxafrage Whose Leaves in Beer allay hot Feavers rage The Dyers Shumach with more Trees there be That are both good to use and rare to see The Beasts peculiar to this Countrey are the Moose Beasts the Rackoon and the Musquash the two first Land-Animals the last Amphibious which with others common to them with us are thus versifi'd by the abovesaid Author The Kingly Lyon and the strong-arm'd Bear The large limb'd Mooses with the tripping Deer Quill-darting Porcupines that Rackoons be Castled i th' hollow of an aged Tree The skipping Squirrel Rabbet purblind Hare Immured in the self-same Castle are Lest red-ey'd Ferrets wily Foxes should Them undermine if Ramper'd but with Mold The grim-fac'd Ounce and rav'nous howling Wolf Whose meagre Paunch sucks like a swallowing Gulph Black glittering Otters and rich Coated Beaver The Civet-scented Musquash smelling ever Of such of these as are altogether unknown to us take these brief Descriptions The Beast call'd a Moose The Moose is not much unlike red Deer and is as big as an Ox slow of Foot Headed like a Buck with a broad Beam some being two Yards wide in the Head their flesh is as good as Beef their Hides good for Clothing if these were kept tame and accustom'd to the Yoke they would be a great Commodity First because they are so fruitful bringing forth three at a time being likewise very uberous Secondly because they will live in Winter without any Fodder There are not many of these in
the Massachusets Bay but forty Miles to the North-East there are great store of them The Rackoone is a deep Furr'd Beast not much unlike a Badger The Rackoon having a Tail like a Fox as good Meat as a Lamb These Beasts in the day time sleep in hollow Trees in a Moon-shine night they go to feed on Clams at a low Tide by the Sea side where the English hunt them with their Dogs The Musquash is much like a Beaver for shape but nothing near so big The Masquash the Male hath two Stones which smell as sweet as Musk and being kill'd in Winter never lose their sweet smell These Skins are no bigger than a Coney-skin yet are sold for five Shillings apiece being sent for Tokens into England one good Skin will perfume a whole house full of Clothes if it be right and good The Birds both common and peculiar are thus recited Birds The Princely Eagle and the soaring Hawk Whom in their unknown ways there 's none can chawk The Humbird for some Queens rich Cage more fit Than in the vacant Wilderness to sit The swift-wing'd Swallow sweeping to and fro As swift as Arrow from Tartarian Bowe When as Aurora's Infant day new springs There th' morning mounting Lark her sweet lays sings The harmonious Thrush swift Pigeon Turtle-dove Who to her Mate doth ever constant prove The Turky-Pheasant Heath-cock Partridge rare The Carrion-tearing Crow and hurtful Stare The long-liv'd Raven th' ominous Screech-Owl Who tells as old Wives say disasters foul The drowsie Madge that leaves her day-lov'd Nest And loves to rove when Day-birds be at rest Th'Eel-murthering Hearn and greedy Cormorant That near the Creeks in morish Marshes haunt The bellowing Bittern with the long-leg'd Crane Presaging Winters hard and dearth of Grain The Silver Swan that tunes her mournful breath To sing the Dirge of her approaching death The tattering Oldwives and the cackling Geese The fearful Gull that shuns the murthering Peece The strong-wing'd Mallard with the nimble Teal And ill-shape't Loon who his harsh Notes doth squeal There Widgins Sheldrakes and Humilitees Snites Doppers Sea-Larks in whole million flees Of these the Humbird Loon and Humility are not to be pass'd by without particular observation The Humbird is one of the wonders of the Countrey The Humbird being no bigger than a Hornet yet hath all the Dimensions of a Bird as Bill and Wings with Quills Spider-like Legs small Claws for Colour she is as glorious as the Rain-bow as she flies she makes a little humming noise like a Humble-bee wherefore she is call'd the Humbird The Loon is an ill-shap'd thing like a Cormorant The Loon. The Huntility or Simplicity but that he can neither go nor flie he maketh a noise sometimes like Sowgelders Horn. The Humilities or Simplicities as we may rather call them are of two sorts the biggest being as large as a green Plover the other as big as Birds we call Knots in England Such is the simplicity of the smaller sorts of these Birds that one may drive them on a heap like so many Sheep and seeing a fit time shoot them the living seeing the dead settle themselves on the same place again amongst which the Fowler discharges again These Birds are to be had upon Sandy Brakes at the latter end of Summer before the Geese come in No less Poetical a Bill of Fare is brought of the Fish on the Sea-Coasts Fishes and in the Rivers of New England in these subsequent Verses The King of Waters the Sea shouldering Whale The snuffing Grampus with the Oily Seale The-storm presaging Porpus Herring-Hog Line-shearing Shark the Catfish and Sea Dog The Scale-fenc'd Sturgeon wry-mouth'd Hollibut The flounsing Salmon Codfish Greedigut Cole Haddock Hage the Thornback and the Scate Whose slimy outside makes him'seld in date The stately Bass old Neptune's fleeting Post That Tides it out and in from Sea to Coast Consorting Herrings and the bonny Shad Big-belly'd Alewives Mackrills richly-clad With Rainbow colours Frostfish and the Smelt As good as ever Lady Gustus felt The spotted Lamprons Eels the Lamperies That seek fresh Water-Brooks with Argus Eyes These watery Villagers with thousands more Do pass and repass near the verdant Shore Kinds of Shell-fish The luscious Lobster with the Crabfish raw The brinish Oyster Muscle Periwigge And Tortoise sought for by the Indian Sqaw Which to the Flats dance many a Winters Jigge To dive for Cocles and to dig for Clams Whereby her lazie Husbands guts she crams To speak of the most unusual of these sorts of Fish The Seal First the Seal which is call'd the Sea-Calf his Skin is good for divers uses his Body being between Flesh and Fish it is not very delectable to the Palate or congruent with the Stomack his Oil is very good to burn in Lamps of which he affords a great deal The Shark is a kind of Fish as big as a Man The Shark some as big as a Horse with three rows of Teeth within his Mouth with which he snaps asunder the Fishermans Lines if he be not very circumspect This Fish will leap at a Mans hand if it be over board and with his Teeth snap off a Mans Leg or Hand if he be Swimming these are often taken being good for nothing but Manuring of Land The Hollibut is not much unlike a Pleace or Turbut The Hollibut some being two yards long and one wide a Foot thick the plenty of better Fish makes these of little esteem except the Head and Finns which Stew'd or Bak'd is very good these Hollibuts be little set by while Basse is in season The Basse is one of the best Fishes in the Countrey The Basse and though Men are soon weary'd with other Fish yet are they never with Basse it is a delicate fine fat fast Fish having a Bone in his Head which contains a Sawcerful of Marrow sweet and good pleasant to the Palate and wholsom to the Stomack When there be great store of them we only eat the Heads and Salt up the Bodies for Winter which exceeds Ling or Haberdine Of these Fishes some are three and some four Foot long some bigger some lesser at some Tides a Man may catch a dozen or twenty of these in three hours the way to catch them is with Hook and Line The Fisherman taking a great Cod-line to which he fasteneth a piece of Lobster throws it into the Sea the Fish biting at it he pulls her to him and knocks her on the head with a Stick Alewives are a kind of Fish which is much like a Herring Alewives which in the later end of April come up to the fresh Rivers to Spawn in such multitudes as is almost incredible pressing up in such shallow Waters as will scarce permit them to Swim having likewise such longing desire after the fresh Water Ponds that no beatings with Poles or forcive agitations by other devices will cause them to
return to the Sea till they have cast their Spawn Clamms or Clamps Clamms or Clamps are a Shell-fish not much unlike a Cockle they lie under the Sand and have every one of them a round hole to take Air and receive Water at When the Tide ebbs and flows a Man running over these Clamm banks will presently be made all wet by their spouting of Water out of those small holes These Fishes are in great plenty in most places of the Countrey which is a great Commodity for the feeding of Swine both in Winter and Summer for being once us'd to those places they will repair to them as duly every Ebb as if they were driven to them by Keepers In some places of the Countrey there be Clamms as big as a Peny white Loaf which are great Dainties amongst the Natives and would be in great esteem amongst the English were it not for better Fish Other Commodities which this Countrey is said to yield are in down-right Prose Furrs Flax Linnen Iron Pitch Masts Cables and some quantity of Amber so that if what many Authors have consented to assert concerning New England be not a meer Fiction what e're hath been affirm'd of the unfruitfulness of the Country will demonstrably be found invalid There are also to be found here some hurtful Creatures Noxious Creatures of which that which is most injurious to the Person and Life of a Man is the Rattle-Snake which is generally a yard and a half long as thick in the middle as the small of a Mans Leg she hath a yellow Belly her Back being spotted with black russet yellow and green colours plac'd like Scales at her Tail is a Rattle with which she makes a noise when she is molested or when she seeth any approach near her her Neck seems to be no thicker than a Mans Thumb yet she can swallow a Squirril having a great wide Mouth with Teeth as sharp as Needles wherewith she biteth such as tread upon her her Poyson lyeth in her Teeth for she hath no Sting When any Man is bitten by any of these Creatures the Poyson spreads so suddenly through the Veins and so runs to the Heart that in one hour it causeth Death unless he hath the Antidote to expel the Poyson which is a Root call'd Snake-weed which must be champ'd the Spittle swallow'd and the Root apply'd to the Sore this is present Cure against that which would be present death without it This Weed is rank Poyson if it be taken by any man that is not bitten whosoever is bitten by these Snakes his flesh becomes as spotted as a Leopard until he be perfectly cur'd It is reported that if the Party live that is bitten the Snake will die and if the Party die the Snake will live This is a most Poysonous and dangerous Animal yet nothing so bad as the report goes of it in England for whereas it is said to kill a Man with its breath and that it can flie there is no such matter for it is naturally the most sleepy and unnimble Creature that lives never offering to leap or bite any Man if it be not trodden on first and it is their desire in hot weather to lie in Paths where the Sun may shine on them where they will sleep so soundly that I have known four Men stride over one of them and never awake it five or six Men have been bitten by them which by using of Snake-weed were all cur'd never any yet losing his life by them Cows have been bitten but being cut in divers places and this Weed thrust into their flesh were cur'd A small Switch will easily kill one of these Snakes In many places of the Country there be none of them as at Plymouth New-town Igowamme Nahant c. In some places they will live on one side of the River and swimming but over the Water as soon as they are come into the Woods they turn up their yellow Bellies and die Up into the Countrey Westward from the Plantations is a high Hill which is call'd Rattle-Snake-Hill where there are great store of these Poysonous Creatures There are likewise troublesome Flies First there is a wild Bee or Wasp which commonly guards the Grape building by Cobweb habitation amongst the Leaves Secondly a great green Flie not much unlike our Horse-Flies in England they will nipp so sore that they will fetch Blood either of Man or Beast and are most troublesome where most Cattel are which brings them from out of the Woods to the Houses this Flie continues but for the Moneth of June The third is Gurnipper which is a small black Flie no bigger than a Flea her biting causeth an itching upon the Hands or Face which provoketh scratching which is troublesome to some this Flie is busie but in close Mornings or Evenings and continues not above three Weeks the least Wind or heat expels them The fourth is a Musketor which is not unlike to our Gnats in England in places where there is no thick Woods or Swamps there are none or very few In the new Plantations they are troublesome for the first year but the Wood decaying they vanish These Flies cannot endure Wind heat or cold so that these are only troublesome in close thick Weather and against Rain many that are bitten will fall a scratching whereupon their Faces and Hands swell The nature of the ancient Inhabitants As touching the Nature of the ancient Inhabitants they are to be consider'd according to their several Shires or Divisions those that inhabit to the East and North-East bore the name of Churchers and Tarrenteens these in the Southern parts were call'd Pequods and Narragansets those Westward Connectacuts and Mowhacks to the North-West of whom were the Aberginians The nature of the Mowhacks The Mowhacks were ever accounted a cruel bloudy People which were wont to come down upon their poor Neighbors with more than bruitish Savageness spoiling their Corn burning their Houses slaying Men ravishing Women yea very Canibals they were sometimes eating on a Man one part after another before his Face and while yet living insomuch that the very Name of a Mowhack would strike the Heart of a poor Aberginian dead till they had the English on their sides to succor them for these inhumane Homicides confess that they dare not meddle with a white Fac'd Man accompany'd with his hot-mouth'd Weapon These Indians are a People of tall Stature long grim Visages slender Wasted and having exceeding great Arms and Thighs wherein they say their strength lieth which is such that one of them hath been known to kill a Dog with a fillip of his Finger and afterwards to have flead and sod him and eat him to his Dinner They are so hardy that they can eat such things as would make other Indians sick to look upon being destitute of Fish and Flesh they suffice Hunger and maintain Nature with the use of Vegetatives but that which they most hunt after is the
which daily lies upon them insomuch that a great Belly hinders no business nor doth a Child-birth take much time but the young Infant being greas'd and sooted wrapp'd in a Beavers Skin bound with his Feet up to his Bum upon a Board two Foot long and one Foot broad and his Face expos'd to all nipping Weather this little Pappouse travels about with his bare-footed Mother to paddle in the Icy Clam-banks after three or four days of Age have confirm'd her recovery For their Carriage it is very civil Smiles being the greatest grace of their Mirth Their Musick is Lullabies in Rocking their Children who generally are as quiet as if they had neither Spleen or Lungs Their Voices are generally both sweet and well order'd so far as pure Nature teacheth them Their Modesty drives them to wear more Clothes than the Men having always a Coat of Cloth or Skins wrapp'd like a Blanket about their Loyns reaching down to their Hams which they never put off in Company Towns buile by the English in New England There are to be reckon'd up forty five chief Towns besides what others there may be of less note built or made habitable by the English since their first arrival in New England till about the Year 1650. First St. Georges Fort where the first Plantation was setled St. Georges Fort. at the Mouth of the River Sagadebock in a kind of Peninsula or half Island The second New Plymouth seated no less commodiously upon a large Bay New Plymouth call'd by the Natives Pautuxed where they first setled that went over out of dissatisfaction to the Church-Government of England The third Salem call'd by the Indians Mahumbeak Salem which stands on the middle of a Neck of Land very pleasantly having a South River on the one side and a North River on the other side This Town seems to have been built in the Year 1628. by a part of that Company who being sent over by the Merchant-Adventurers setled themselves in this Cape The fourth Mashawmut or Charles-town Charles-town situate on a Neck of Land on the North-side of the River Charles The form of this Town in the Frontispiece of it resembleth the Head Neck and Shoulders of a Man through the right Shoulder whereof runs the Navigable River Mistick which by its near approach to Charles River in one place makes the chief part of the Town a Peninsula It consists of a hundred and fifty Dwelling-houses many of them beautifi'd with pleasant Gardens and Orchards Near the Water-side is a large Market-place forth of which issue two fair Streets and in it stands a large and well built Church The fifth Matapan or Dorchester a Fronteer Town Dorchester standing over against the Island near the Sea-side It is water'd with two small Rivers and is built in the form of a Serpent turning its Head Northward it hath Orchards and Gardens full of Fruit-trees The sixth is Boston anciently Accomonticus the Center and Metropolis of the rest Boston built in the form of a Heart and fortifi'd with two Hills on the Front-part thereof the one having great store of Artillery mounted thereon the other having a strong Battery built of whole Timber and fill'd with Earth At the Descent of the Hill lies a large Cave or Bay on which the chief part of this Town is built over-topp'd with a third Hill all three like over-topping Towers keeping a constant Watch to foresee the approach of foreign Dangers The chiefest part of this City-like Town is crowded upon the Sea Banks and wharf'd out with great Industry and Cost the Edifices large and beautiful whose continual enlargement presageth some sumptuous City The seventh Roxbury Roxbury situated between Boston and Dorchester water'd with cool and pleasant Springs issuing from the Rocky Hills and with small Freshets watering the Valleys of this fertile Town The form of it resembleth a Wedge double pointed entring between the two above-mention'd Towns and in the room of those Swamps or tearing Bushes which were there before they have now goodly Fruit-trees fruitful Fields and Gardens The eighth is Lynne Lynne or according to the Indian Name Saugus situated between Salem and Charles-town near a River whose strong Freshet at the end of Winter fills all her Banks and with a violent Torrent vents it self into the Sea This Town is almost square consisting many years ago of above a hundred Dwelling-houses having also an Iron Mill in constant use The Church being on a level Land undefended from the North-West Wind is made with Steps descending into the Earth The ninth is call'd Water-town Water-town anciently Pigsgusset situated upon one of the Branches of Charles-River water'd with many pleasant Springs and small Rivulets running like Veins throughout her Body This Town began by occasion of Sir Richard Saltingstall who arriving with store of Cattel and Servants Winter'd in these Parts In the Year 1633. there was erected between Charles-town and Water-town New-town a Place call'd New-town and by the Indians Amongcangen since nam'd Cambridge being the tenth in order It is in form like a List of Broad-cloth reaching to the most Southerly part of Merrimeck River it hath comely and well order'd Streets and two fair Colledges Harverd Colledge the first call'd Harverd Colledge from Mr. John Harverd who at his Death gave a thousand Pounds to it to the other Mr. John Harnes was the chief Benefactor This Town was appointed to be the Seat of the Government but it continu'd not long The eleventh call'd Ipswich Ipswich or Sawacatuc by the Indians is situated on a fair and delightful River issuing forth from a very pleasant Pond and afterwards breaking its Course through a hideous Swamp of large extent it lies in the Sagamoreship or Earldom of Aggawan now by the English call'd Essex Twelve Miles from Ipswich Newbury near upon the Streams of Merrimeck River is situated the twelfth call'd Newbury The People of New-town Hartford or Cambridge upon their removal of the Plantation of Canectico passing up the River built a Town which they call'd Hartford the thirteenth in number divers others coming in the room of those that departed from Cambridge The fourteenth Concord seated upon a fair fresh River whose Rivulets are fill'd with fresh Marsh and her Streams with Fish it being a Branch of that large River of Merrimeck Allwives is built in the Inland Countrey and call'd Concord It consisted at first of above fifty Families Their Buildings are for the most part conveniently plac'd on one streight Stream under a Sunny Bank in a low Level The People that first set forth to build this Town sustain'd great hardship and misery by reason of the uncouth Ways and extremity of the Weather it being the first Inland Town that was built South-East of Charles-River upon the Sea-Coast Hingham is situated the fifteenth Town Hingham the form whereof is somewhat intricate to describe by reason of
the Seawasting Crooks where it beats upon a moultring Shore yet in some places the Streets are compleat It consisted at first of about sixty Families The sixteenth is in Plymouth Government situate upon the Sea-Coast Dukesbury or Sandwich first nam'd Dukes-bury afterwards Sandwich About the year 1617. a new Supply coming over into these Parts Newhaven and not finding in the Mattachusets Government any commodious place to settle in they after much search took up a place somewhat more Southerly near the Shalle s of Capecod where they found a commodious Harbor for Shipping and a fit place to erect a Town in which they built in a short time with very fair Houses and compleat Streets and shortly after several others Amongst which they erected a new Government which from their first Fronteer Town being the seventeenth was call'd Newhaven The eighteenth is in the Government of the Mattachusets and call'd Dedham Dedham being an Inland Town situate about ten Miles from Boston in the County of Suffolk well water'd with many pleasant Streams and abounding with Gardens and Fruit-Trees It consisted at first of about a hundred Families being generally given to Husbandry The nineteenth being also in this Government is call'd Weymouth Weymouth batter'd on the East with the Sea Waves on the South-West Rocks and Swamps make it delightful to the Deer as the ploughable Meadow-Lands to the Inhabitants About the Year 1638. Printing was brought over into New England About six Miles from Ipswich North-Eastward Rowly was erected another Town call'd Rowly being the twentieth About the Year 1639. began the one and twentieth Town Hampton Hampton in the County of Norfolk to be built It is situate near the Sea-Coast not far from the River of Merrimeck The great store of salt Marsh did entice the People to set down their Habitations there Not far from this Town of Hampton was erected the two and twentieth Salisbury call'd Salisbury seated upon the broad swift Torrent of Merrimeck-River It lieth on the Northern side over against the Town of Newbury the River between them being about half a Mile broad but hath an Island in the midst thereof which makes it the more easily passable The situation of this Town is very pleasant the Skirts thereof abounding in fair and goodly Meadows with good store of stately Timber in many places upon the Uplands Long-Island Southampton About the Year 1640. by a fresh Supply of People that setled in Long-Island was there erected the twenty third Town call'd Southampton by the Indians Agawom The same Year also the Town of Sudbury being the twenty fourth Sudbury began to be built in the Inland Countrey It is furnish'd with great store of fresh Marsh but lying very low it is much endammag'd with Land-floods About this time there was built at Mount Wollestone Braintree by some old Planters and certain Farmers of the great Town of Boston a Town nam'd Braintree being the twenty fifth within the Mattachusets Government It is well peopled and hath great store of Land in Tillage In the Year 1641. Mr. Richard Blindman coming from Green Harbour Gloucester a Place in Plymouth Patent with some few People of his acquaintance setled in Cape Anne where they built the twenty sixth Town and nam'd it Gloucester There is also situate upon Puscataque River to the North-East of Boston Dover a Town call'd Dover being the twenty seventh the People by voluntary resignation being under the Mattachusets Government In the Year 1642. was erected the eight and twentieth Town Wooburn call'd Wooburn In the Year 1644. Reading the nine and twentieth Town was built Reading being in the Government of the Mattachusets it is well water'd and situated about a great Pond having two Mills a Saw-Mill and a Corn-Mill which stand upon two several Streams A little after was built the thirtieth Town in this Colony Wenham call'd Wenham situate between Salem and Ipswich it is very well water'd as most Inland Towns are and the People live altogether on Husbandry About the Year 1645. one Mr. Pinchin having out of desire to improve his Estate by Trading with the Indians setled himself in a place very remote from any of the Towns of the Mattachusets Colony yet under their Government and great store of People still resorting to him they at last erected a Town upon the River Canectico Spring-field calling it Spring-field being the one and thirtieth Town it is very fitly seated for a Beaver Trade with the Indians in regard it is situate upon this large Navigable River and upon some Rivulets of the same In the Year 1648. was founded the Town of Haverhill Haverhill being the two and thirtieth about a Mile or two from the place where the River of Merrimeck receives into it self the River Shawshin which is one of her three chief Heads Not long after Malden the Town of Malden being the three and thirtieth Town was built by certain People that came out of Charles-Town these two Towns being sever'd the one from the other by the large River of Mistick The rest we shall onely name as 34. Berwick alias Chawun 35 Oxford alias Sagoquas Falmouth alias Totam 36. Bristol 37. Hull alias Passataquack 38. Dartmouth alias Bohanna 39. Norwich alias Segocket 40. Taunton alias Cohannet 41. Greens-Harbour 42. Yarmouth 43. Northam alias Pascataqua 44. Exeter 45. Weymouth The chief Rivers of New England are Pascataway Sagadahoc Pemmaquid Agamentico Merrimeck Tachobacco Mistick Narraganset Mishuwin Connectacut Newichwavoch Kynebequy The present state of the Natives The Indian Natives are now become so weak in number and in some measure reduc'd to a dread of the growth of the English that of late years they have not practis'd any thing against them or at least not justifi'd them by numbers in open Hostility willing rather to purchase their Peace and buy off Injuries committed by them at the Price of their Lands and Possessions And although care and expence hath been many years apply'd to the Conversion of Indians to the Faith however inclinable they seem'd at first to the imbracing thereof not then so well discerning the insincerity of its Professors yet there are so few of late who do imbrace it or persevere in it wanting a good Foundation for instruction in Moral Honesty and perhaps the example of it in those that undertake to instruct them in Religion that Christianity to them seems a Chimera Religion a design to draw them from the libidinous Pleasures of a lazy Life however some there are who make Profession of Christianity and some who are educated in the Schools of New Cambridge to entitle them to Preach the Gospel in their own Language One great hindrance to the Propagation of the Faith amongst those Heathens is the diversity of their Languages for it is commonly known that the Natives themselves do not understand one another if their Habitations are but at forty Miles
distance Church-Government among the English Their Church-Government and Discipline is Congregational and Independent yet in some places more rigid than others for in many Towns there yet remains some leaven of Presbytery from which Sects our Independency had its Original insomuch that one of the most remarkable Opposers of Episcopal Government Doctor Bastwick who spoil'd so much Paper in railing at the Church Government of England and crying up Liberty of Conscience finding the Apostacy of his own Brethren of Boston from their first Principles and his generally prevail over them even to the denying that liberty to others which they seem'd only to aim at did write a large and vehement Dehortatory Epistle to them from their New Lights or Paths saying That according to their present Tenents they could not pretend to be better or other than a Christian Synagogue Their. Civil Government and Laws Their Laws and Methods of Government are wholly of their own framing each Colony for themselves makes an Annual choice of Governor Deputy Governor and a certain number of Assistants by the plurality of Suffrages collected from their several Towns the Electors are only Free-men and Church-Members for he that is not a Member of their Church can neither chuse nor be chosen a Magistrate nor have his Children Baptiz'd besides the loss of many other Priviledges and liable moreover to frequent if not constant Mulcts for absenting themselves from Divine Worship so call'd in their Meeting-houses Since the transmitting of the Patent in New England the Election is not by Voices nor erection of Hands as formerly but by Papers thus The general Court-electory sitting where are present in the Church or Meeting-house at Boston the old Governor Deputy and all the Magistrates and two Deputies or Burgesses for every Town or at least one all the Freemen are bid to come in at one Door and bring their Votes in Paper for the new Governor and deliver them down upon the Table before the Court and so pass forth at another Door those that are absent send their Votes by Proxies All being deliver'd in the Votes are counted and according to the major part the old Governor pronounceth That such an one is chosen Governor for the year ensuing Then the Freemen in like manner bring their Votes for the Deputy Governor who being also chosen the Governor propoundeth the Assistants one after another New Assistants are of late put in nomination by an Order of general Court before-hand to be consider'd of If a Freeman give in a Blank that rejects the Man nam'd if the Freeman makes any mark with a Pen upon the Paper which he brings that elects the Man nam'd Then the Blanks and mark'd Papers are number'd and according to the major part of either the Man in Nomination stands elected or rejected and so for all the Assistants And after every new Election which is by their Patent to be upon the last Wednesday in Easter Term the new Governor and Officers are all new Sworn The Governor and Assistants chuse the Secretary And all the Court consisting of Governor Deputy Assistants and Deputies of Towns give their Votes as well as the rest and the Ministers and Elders and all Church-Officers have their Votes also in all these Elections of chief Magistrates Constables and all other inferior Officers are sworn in the general quarter or other Courts or before any Assistant Every Free-man when he is admitted takes a strict Oath to be true to the Society or Jurisdiction There are two general Courts one every half year wherein they make Laws or Ordinances The Ministers advise in making of Laws especially Ecclesiastical and are present in Courts and advise in some special Causes Criminal and in framing of Fundamental Laws There are besides four Quarter-Courts for the whole Jurisdiction besides other petty Courts one every quarter at Boston Salem and Ipswich with their several Jurisdictions besides every Town almost hath a petty Court for small Debts and Trespasses under twenty Shillings Actions and Causes In the general Court or great quarter Courts before the Civil Magistrates are try'd all Actions and Causes Civil and Criminal and also Ecclesiastical especially touching Non-members And they themselves say that in the general and quarter Courts they have the Power of Parliament Kings-Bench Common-Pleas Chancery High-Commission and Star-Chamber and all other Courts of England and in divers Cases have exercis'd that Power upon the Kings Subjects there as is not difficult to prove They have put to death banish'd fin'd Men cut off Mens Ears whip'd imprison'd Men and all these for Ecclesiastical and Civil Offences and without sufficient Record In the lesser quarter Courts are try'd in some Actions under ten Pounds in Boston under twenty and all Criminal Causes not touching Life or Member From the petty quarter Courts or other Courts the parties may appeal to the great quarter Courts from thence to the general Court from which there is no Repeal Twice a year Grand-Juries in the said quarter Courts held before the general Courts are two Grand-Juries sworn for the Jurisdiction one for one Court and the other for the other and they are charg'd to enquire and Present Offences reduc'd by the Governor who gives the Charge Matters of Debt Trials Trespass and upon the Case and Equity yea and of Heresie also are try'd by a Jury The Parties are warn'd to challenge any Jury-man before he be sworn but because there is but one Jury in a Court for trial of Causes and all Parties not present at their Swearing the liberty of challenge is much hinder'd and some inconveniences do happen thereby Jurors are return'd by the Marshal he was at first call'd The Beadle of the Society The Parties in all Causes speak themselves for the most part and some of the Magistrates where they think cause requireth do the part of Advocates without Fee or Reward Though among the several Colonies which were founded here by the confluence of dissenting Zealots this Government is exercis'd differing from that of the Church and State of England yet in those Provinces which are granted by particular Persons the Government is much more conformable to that of England but as the Mattachusets or Bostoners were from the beginning the most Potent and Predominant of all the rest of the Colonies insomuch that Boston may well be accounted the Metropolis of all New England so of late years they have still usurp'd more and more Power and Authority over the rest and especially have not stuck to give Laws to the foresaid Provinces allotted to particular Persons and have gone about wholly to subjugate those places to themselves intrenching upon the rights of the true Proprietors and that even contrary to the Kings express Commands by his Officers there and as it were in open defiance of his Majesty and Government as is evident from this following Narration of their behavior upon a business of this nature Proceedings of the Mattachusets against
his Majesties Commissioners IN the Year of our Lord 1665. his Majesties Commissioners for the Affairs of New England being in the Province of Mayne the People being much unsetled in Point of Government by reason the Mattachusets Colony or Boston Government did usurp compulsively a Power over them contrary to their wills and the right of Sir Ferdinando Gorges Heir who had his Commission then in the place did unanimously Petition to his Majesties Commissioners to settle the Government upon which the said Commissioners examin'd the Bounds and Right of Mr. Gorges Patent with all the Allegations and Pretensions on both sides and so according to their Instruction from his Majesty did settle a temporary Government under his Majesty's immediate Authority until such time as his Majesty should give his final determination thereof and for that end did Institute Justices of the Peace to Govern the Province according to the true Laws of England Also his Majesty was pleas'd by his Mandamus in April 1666 to the Governors of Boston to signifie that it was his will and pleasure That the Province of Main should stand good as his Commissioners had setled it until he had more leisure to determine it yet notwithstanding after three years quiet possession and exercising of Government by the Kings Justices according to their Commission granted by his Majesty's Commissioners the Bostoners without any Conference with the said Justices did in a hostile manner oppose the King's Power July 1668. which was as followeth The General Court of Boston sent their Warrants to keep Court at York under their Authority and for that purpose Commissionated Magistrates by their own Authority namely Major General John Leveret Mr. Edward Ting Captain Richard Walden and Captain Robert Pike Whereupon the King's Justices did oppose their Warrants and sent Post to New York with an Address to General Nicholas for Advice what to do therein who forthwith dispatch'd away to the Governors of Boston informing them of the danger of their Proceeding it being an open breach of Duty to subvert the Government establish'd by his Majesty's Power also sent the King 's Mandamus April 1666. that will'd to the contrary Notwithstanding the Boston Magistrates in July 1668. in order to their Boston Commission came to York Town in the said Province with several Armed Men Horse and Foot to keep Court under their Authority Opposition was made by the King's Justices and his Majesty's Power was urg'd but little regard thereunto shewn his Majesties Mandamus was likewise much insisted upon and produced by the Justices who ask'd the Bostoners what they thought of it and how they durst act so contrary to the King's Will and Pleasure Major General Leveret told them That he believ'd it might be the King's Hand but he had a Commission from the general Court at Boston which he would follow and observe by the help of God The same day in the Afternoon the said Major General Leveret with the rest of the Boston Magistrates seiz'd and imprison'd the Province Marshal in doing his Office and then forthwith went in warlike posture to the Court-house where the King's Justices sat in Judicature and putting them from their Seats sat down themselves in their Places and Executed their Boston Commission The King's Justices drew a Protest against their Proceedings and so left the Decision to God's Providence and his Majesty's good Pleasure Then they turn'd out all Officers both Military and Civil and Swore others in their Places under their Authority they forc'd the whole Record of the Province out of the Recorders House contrary to his Will by vertue of a Special Warrant from that Court They imprison'd the Mayor of the said Province about three weeks forcing him to give in five hundred Pound Bonds not to act according to his Commission which with some Reservations he was forc'd to deny for the security of his Estate These riotous Proceedings thus acted with such a precipitate fury so incens'd his Majesty that speedy care had been taken to reduce them to reason had they not upon mature consideration bethought themselves afterwards to yield Obedience to his Majesties Orders Having treated at large of all that concerns New England in general both in reference to the Natives and the English Planters we shall conclude with a brief view of the Provinces of Laconia and Main as they are truly Describ'd among other ingenuous Collections and Observations of the Affairs of America and especially these Parts by Ferdinando Gorges Esq Heir to the above-mention'd Sir Ferdinando and thereby sole Lord of the said Provinces onely contracting what hath been by him deliver'd more at large A brief Description of Laconia a Province in New England Among divers Plantations of the English happily Founded in New England is a Province to the Landward nam'd Laconia so call'd by reason of the great Lakes therein but by the ancient Inhabitants thereof it is call'd The Countrey of the Troquois It lies between the Latitude of forty four and forty five Degrees having the Rivers of Sagadehock and Merrimeck on the Sea-Coast of New England Southerly from it into each of which Rivers there is a short Passage frequented by the Salvages inhabiting near the Lakes Also it hath the great Lakes which tend towards California in the South Sea on the West thereof On the North thereof is the great River of Canada into which the said River disgorgeth it self by a fair large River well replenish'd with many fruitful Islands The Air thereof is pure and wholesom the Countrey pleasant having some high Hills full of goodly Forrests and fair Valleys and Plains fruitful in Corn Vines Chesnuts Wallnuts and infinite sorts of other Fruits large Rivers well stor'd with Fish and inviron'd with goodly Meadows full of Timber-trees One of the great Lakes is call'd The Lake of Troquois which together with a River of the same Name running into the River of Canada is sixty or seventy Leagues in length In the Lake are four fair Islands which are low and full of goodly Woods and Meadows having store of Game for Hunting as Stags Fallow-Deer Elks Roe-Bucks Beavers and other sorts of Beasts which come from the Main Land to the said Islands The Rivers which fall into the Lakes have in them good store of Beavers of which Beasts as also of the Elks the Salvages make their chiefest Traffick The said Islands have been inhabited heretofore by the Salvages but are now abandon'd by reason of their late Wars one with another They contain twelve or fifteen Leagues in length and are seated commodiously for Habitation in the midst of the Lake which abounds with divers kinds of wholesom Fish From this Lake run two Rivers Southward which fall into the Eastern and Southern Sea-Coast of New England Into this Lake there went many years since certain French of Quebeck who sided with the Algovinquins with the help of their Canoos which they carried the space of five Miles over the Impossible Falls to Fight a
Battel in revenge of some former Injuries done by the Troquois to the Algovinquins who had the Victory for which cause the French have been so hated ever since by the Nation of the Troquois that none of them durst ever appear in any part of that Lake But their Trade said to be sixteen thousand Beavers yearly is partly sold to the Dutch who Trade with the West-end of the said Lake over Land by Horses from their Plantation upon Hudson's River and another part is conceiv'd to be purchas'd by the Hiroons who being Newters are Friends both to the one and the other and these Hiroons bring down the greatest part of all by the River of Canada The Way over Land to this great Lake from the Plantation of Pascataway hath been attempted by Captain Walter Neale once Governor at the Charges of Sir Ferdinando Gorges Captain Mason and some Merchants of London and the Discovery wanted but one days Journey of finishing because their Victuals was spent which for want of Horses they were enforc'd to carry with their Arms and their Clothes upon their Backs They intended to have made a settlement for Trade by Pinnaces upon the said Lake which they reckon to be about ninety or a hundred Miles from the Plantation over Land The People of the Countrey are given to Hunting of wild Beasts which is their chiefest Food Their Arms are Bowes and Arrows Their Armor is made partly of Wood and partly of a kind of twisted Stuff like Cotton-Wool Their Meat is Flour of Indian Corn of that Countreys growth sodden to Pap which they preserve for times of Necessity when they cannot Hunt This Province of Laconia however known by a distinct Name is included within the Province of Main which offers it self next to our consideration Of the Province of Main All that part of the Continent of New England which was allotted by Patent to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and to his Heirs he thought fit to call by the Name of The Province of Main It takes it beginning at the entrance of Pascatoway Harbor and so passeth up the same into the River of Newichwavoch and through the same unto the farthest Head thereof and from thence North-Westwards for the space of a hundred and twenty Miles and from the Mouth of Pascatoway Harbor aforesaid North-Eastward along the Sea-Coast to Sagadehock and up the River thereof to Kinibequy River even as far as the Head thereof and into the Land North-Westwards for the space of a hundred and twenty Miles To these Territories are also adjoyn'd the North half of the Isles of Sholes together with the Isles of Capawick and Nautican as also all the little Islands lying within five Leagues of the Main all along the Sea-Coast between the aforesaid Rivers of Pascatoway and Sagadehock He no sooner had this Province setled upon him but he gave publick notice That if any one would undertake by himself and his Associates to Transport a competent number of Inhabitants to Plant in any part of his Limits he would assign unto him or them such a proportion of Land as should in reason satisfie them reserving onely to himself some small High-Rent as 2 s. or 2 s. 6 d. for a hundred Acres per Annum and if they went about to build any Town or City he would Endow them with such Liberties and Immunities as should make them capable to Govern themselves within their own Limits according to the Liberties granted to any Town or Corporation within this Realm of England And as for others of the meaner sort who went as Tenants that they should have such quantities of Land assign'd them as they were able to manage at the Rate of 4 d. or 6 d. an Acre according to the nature or situation of the Place they settle in And for the Division of the Province and the Form of Government which he intended to Establish he first divided the Province into several Parts and those again he subdivided into distinct Regiments as East West North and South those again into several Hundreds Parishes and Tythings and these to have their several Officers to Govern according to such Laws as should be agreed upon by publick Assent of the Free-holders with the approbation of himself or Deputy and the principal Officers of the publick State The setled Government for the general State to whom all Appeals were to be made and from whom all Instructions for the welfare of the Publick were to issue were to consist of himself or his Deputy who was to be chosen every three year by himself with the advice of his Council Next a Chancellor for the determination of all Causes A Treasurer to whom the care of the publick Revenue was to be committed A Marshal whose Office was to oversee the Regiments and to provide Men for publick Service An Admiral to take care of all Maritime Affairs to whom a Judge of the Admiralty was to be joyn'd to determine all Maritime Causes A Master of the Ordnance to look to the publick Arms and Ammunition A Secretary to receive Intelligence and to acquaint himself or Deputy therewith To these belong all their several Officers and Ministers for the Execution of all Matters proper to their several Places The chief Town of this Province is call'd Gorgiana which is Govern'd by a Mayor the rest are onely inconsiderable Villages or scatter'd Houses but through Encouragement given to Adventurers and Planters it may prove in time a very flourishing Place and be replenish'd with many fair Towns and Cities it being a Province both fruitful and pleasant SECT II. New Netherland now call'd New York THat Tract of Land formerly call'd The New Netherland doth contain all that Land which lieth in the North parts of America betwixt New England and Mary-Land the length of which Northward into the Countrey as it hath not been fully discover'd so it is not certainly known The breadth of it is about two hundred Miles The principal Rivers within this Tract are Hudson's-River Raritan-River Delaware-Bay-River The chief Islands are the Manhatans-Island Long-Island and Staten-Island The first which discover'd this Countrey was Henry Hudson who being hir'd by the East-India Company to seek a Passage in the Northern America to China set Sail Anno 1609. in the Half-Moon Frigat coming before Terre-neuff he stood about towards the South-West where Sailing up a great River he found two Men Clad in in Ruffelo's Skins and from thence arriv'd safe at Amsterdam New Netherland thus discover'd invited many Merchants to settle a firm Plantation there to which purpose they obtain'd Letters Patents in 1614. granted them by the States in the Hague That they might onely Traffick to New Netherland whereupon they earnestly prosecuting the Design sent out Adrian Block and Godyn who discover'd several Coasts Isles Havens and Rivers NOVI BELâ—â— Quod nune NOVI JORCK vocatur NOVAE que ANGLIAE Partis Virginiae Accuratissima et Novissima Delineatio After His Majesties Restauration His Majesty being truly
inform'd of his just Pretences to all that Usurp'd Territory call'd New Netherland the same having been formerly part of New England and of how great prejudice to the Act of Navigation and how dangerous Intruders the Dutchmen are generally upon other Princes Dominions what mischief might ensue to all our English Plantations in time of War if the Dutch were permitted to strengthen themselves in the very heart of His Majesties Dominions being Masters of one of the most commodious Ports and Rivers in America His Majesty resolv'd to seize upon the same as his undoubted Right and in May 1664. having design'd four Commissioners to the perfecting of Affairs in New England Collonel Richard Nichols Sir Robert Carr George Cartwnight and Samuel Mawrick Esquires with three Ships of War to convey them to Boston The matter was so order'd that the same Ships serv'd for the reducing of the Town and Fort of New Amsterdam upon conditions advantageous to His Majesty and easie to the Dutch Now begins New Netherland to lose the Name for His Majesty having conferr'd by Patent upon his Royal Highness the Duke of York and Albany all the Acquisitions made upon Foraigners together with Long-Island the West end whereof was wholly setled and Peopled by Dutch-men his Royal Highness impower'd by Commission as his Deputy-Governor Colonel Nichols Groom of his Bed-chamber to take the Charge and Direction of Reducing and Governing all those Territories it was by him thought fit to change some principal denominations of Places viz. New Netherland into York-shire New Amsterdam into New York Fort-Amscel into Fort-James Fort-Orange into Fort-Albany and withal to change Burgomasters Schepen and Schout into Mayor Aldermen and Sheriff with Justices of the Peace so that all the Civil Policy is conformable to the Methods and Practise of England whereas New England retains only the name of Constable in their whole Rolls of Civil Officers It is plac'd upon the neck of the Island Manhatans looking towards the Sea encompass'd with Hudson's River which is six Miles broad the Town is compact and oval with very fair Streets and several good Houses the rest are built much after the manner of Holland to the number of about four hundred Houses which in those parts are held considerable Upon one side of the Town is James-Fort capable to lodge three hundred Souldiers and Officers it hath four Bastions forty Pieces of Cannon mounted the Walls of Stone lin'd with a thick Rampart of Earth well accommodated with a Spring of fresh Water always furnish'd with Arms and Ammunition against Accidents Distant from the Sea seven Leagues it affords a safe Entrance even to unskilful Pilots under the Town side Ships of any Burthen may Ride secure against any Storms the Current of the River being broken by the interposition of a small Island which lies a Mile distant from the Town About ten Miles from New York is a Place call'd Hell-Gate which being a narrow Passage there runneth a violent Stream both upon Flood and Ebb and in the middle lie some Rocky Islands which the Current sets so violently upon that it threatens present Shipwrack and upon the Flood is a large Whirlwind which continually sends forth a hideous roaring enough to affright any Stranger from passing farther and to wait for some Charon to conduct him through yet to those that are well acquainted little or no danger It is a place of great Defence against any Enemy coming in that way which a small Forticfiation would absolutely prevent and necessitate them to come in at the West end of Long-Island by Sandy Hook where Nutten Island forces them within the Command of the Fort at New York which is one of the best Pieces of Defence in the North parts of America It is built most of Brick and Stone and cover'd with red and black Tyle and the Land being high it gives at a distance a pleasing prospect to the Spectators The Inhabitants consist most of English and Dutch and have a considerable Trade with Indians for Beaver Otter and Rackoon-Skins with other Furrs as also for Bear Deer and Elke-Skins and are supply'd with Venison and Fowl in the Winter and Fish in the Summer by the Indians which they buy at an easie Rate and having the Countrey round about them they are continually furnish'd with all such Provisions as is needful for the Life of Man not onely by the English and Dutch within their own but likewise by the adjacent Colonies Manhattans River The Manhattans or Great River being the chiefest having with two wide Mouths wash'd the mighty Island Watouwaks falls into the Ocean The Southern Mouth is call'd Port May or Godyns Bay In the middle thereof lies an Island call'd The States Island and a little higher the Manhattans so call'd from the Natives which on the East side of the River dwell on the Main Continent They are a cruel People and Enemies to the Hollanders as also of the Sanhikans which reside on the Western Shore Farther up are the Makwaes and Mahikans which continually War one against another In like manner all the Inhabitants on the West side of the River Manhattan are commonly at Enmity with those that possess the Eastern Shore who also us'd to be at variance with the Hollanders when as the other People Westward kept good Correspondency with them On a small Island near the Shore of the Makwaes lay formerly a Fort provided with two Drakes and eleven Stone Guns yet was at last deserted Wholesom Waters This Countrey hath many removable Water-falls descending from steep Rocks large Creeks and Harbors fresh Lakes and Rivulets pleasant Fountains and Springs some of which boyl in the Winter and are cold and delightful to drink in Summer The Inhabitants never receive any damage by Deluges neither from the Sea because the Water rises not above a Foot nor by the swelling Rivers which sometimes for a few days covering the Plains at their deserting them leave them fat and fruitful The Sea-Coast is Hilly and of a sandy and clayie Soil which produces abundance of Herbs and Trees The Oak grows there generally sixty or seventy Foot high Trees and for the most part free from Knots which makes it the better fit for Shipping The Nut-trees afford good Fuel and a strange Prospect when the Wood is set on fire either to hunt out a Deer or to clear the Ground fit to be Till'd Some Plants brought hither grow better than in Holland it self as Apples Pears Cherries Peaches Apricocks Strawberries and the like Their Vines grow wild in most places and bear abundance of blue white Vines and Muskadine Grapes Sometime since the Inhabitants made a considerable advantage by the Wine of them which is not inferior to either Rhenish or French Water Lemmmons All manner of Plants known in Europe grow in their Gardens The Water-Lemmons no less pleasing to the Palate than healthful when grown ripe they are about the bigness of an indifferent Cabbage the English press
the Shore in great companies together in Nests built of Wood which deserve no small admiration being made after this manner The Beavers first gather all the loose Wood which they find along the Banks of the Rivers of which if there be not enough they bite the Bark off from the Trees in the neighboring Woods then with their Tusks of which two grow above and two below in their Mouths they gnaw the main body of the Tree so long till it drops asunder Their Nests very artificial are six Stories high cover'd on the top with Clay to keep out Rain in the middle is a passage which goes to the River into which they run so soon as they perceive a Man to which purpose one of them stands Sentinel and in the Winter keeps open the Water from freezing by continual moving of his Tail which is flat without Hair and the most delicious Meat that can be had The Beavers go big sixteen Weeks and once a year bring forth four young which suck and cry like young Children for the Dam of them rises on her hinder Feet and gives her Teats which grow between the fore-legs to two of her young each of them one the foremost legs of a Beaver resemble those of a Dog the hindermost those of a Goose on each side of the vent are two swellings within two thin Skins out of their vent runs generally an Oily moysture with which they anoint all the parts of their body which they can reach to keep them from being wet within they are like a cut-up Hog they live on the Leaves and Barks of Trees they love their young ones exceedingly the long Hairs which shining stick out on the back fall off in Summer and grow again against Harvest they have short Necks strong Sinews and Legs and move very swiftly in the Water and on the Land if incompass'd by Men or Dogs they bite most severely the right Castoreum so highly esteem'd by Physicians is a long Vesica not unlike a Pear within the body of the female Beaver the Indians mince the Cods of the Male Beavers amongst their Tobacco because they produce no Castoreum Fowls in New York This Country abounds also with Fowls for besides Hawks Kites and other Birds of Prey there are abundance of Cranes of several sorts some grey some brown others quite white all of them have firm Bodies and Bones without Marrow Claws of a finger long strong and crooked Bills their Brains dry their Eyes little and hollow hard Features the left Foot lesser than the right both deform'd their Blood thick and the Excrements of a horrid smell they breed most in old Woods whose ground is without Brambles and also near the Water for they feed on Fish and devour all sorts of Fowls nay snatch up Hares Rabbets Tortels and several other sorts of Animals which they carry away with them in the Air nay when hungry they seize on one anorher some of them fly abroad for their prey about noon others at Sun-rising they fall like Lightning on what e're they pursue they drink little except the Blood of those Creatures which they devour they are very libidinous coupling above thirty times a day not only with their like but also with the Hens of Hawks and other Birds they lay their biggest Eggs in thirty days and the lesser in twenty days they generally bring forth three young those of them that cannot endure to look full against the Sun are thrown out of their Nests the young ones when they begin to be fledg'd are by the old carry'd into the Air and let flie but supported by them their sight is wonderful quick for though they flie as high as ever they are able to be discern'd yet they can see the lead Fish that is in the Water and a Hare lying in the Bushes their Breath stinks horribly wherefore their Carcases suddenly rot though they are libidinous yet they live long most of them die of hunger because their Bills when they grow old grow so crooked that they cannot open the same wherefore they flie up into the Air against the Sun and falling into the coldest Rivers loose their Feathers and die Besides the foremention'd Birds of prey there are abundance of Storks Ravens Crows Owls Swallows Gold-finches Ice-birds Kites Quails Pheasants and Winter Kings and which are most remarkable for their rich Feathers the Spechtes they pick great holes in Trees and make a noise as if a Man were cutting down a Tree The Pigeons flie in such flocks Pigeons that the Indians remove with them to the place where they make their Nests where the young ones being taken by hundreds serve them for a Moneths Provision Moreover New York breeds a strange Bird about a Thumb long Pretty Birds full of glistering Feathers it lives by sucking of Flowers like a Bee and is so tender that it immediately dies if water be spirted upon it the Carcase being dry'd is kept for a Rarity Turkies But this Countrey abounds chiefly in Turkies whose plenty deserves no less admiration than their bulk and the delicious taste of their Flesh for they go feeding forty or fifty in a flock and weigh sometime forty or fifty pound apiece the Natives either shoot them or take them with a Bait stuck on an Angle In March and Harvest the Waters swarm with Geese Teal Snites Ducks and Pelicans besides many strange sorts of Fowls not known in Europe The Rivers and Lakes produce Sturgeon Salmon Carps Pearch Barbils Fish all sorts of Eels and many other Fish which are taken near Water-falls The Sea affords Crabs with and without Shells Sea-cocks and Horses Cod Whiting Ling Herrings Mackrel Flounders Tar-buts Tortels and Oysters of which some are a Foot long and have Pearl but are a little brownish Amongst the Poysonous Creatures which infest New York the chiefest and most dangerous is the Rattle-Snake Rattle-Snake whose description we have already had at large in New England Constitution of the Inhabitants The Inhabitants have their Hair black as Jet harsh like Horse-hair they are broad Shoulder'd small Wasted brown Ey'd their Teeth exceeding white with Water they chiefly quench their Third Their general Food is Flesh Fish Their Diet. and Indian Wheat which stamp'd is boyl'd to a Pap by them call'd Sappaen They observe no set time to Eat but when they have an Appetite their Meals begin Beavers Tails are amongst them accounted a great Dainty When they go to Hunt they live several days on parch'd Corn which they carry in little Bags ty'd about their middle a little of that said Corn thrown into Water swells exceedingly New Netherlands Apparel The Habits of the Natives especially of the Men are few the Women go more neat than the Men and though the Winter pinches them with excessive cold yet they go naked tiil their thirteenth year Both Men and Women wear a Girdle of Whale-fins and Sea-shells the Men put a piece of Cloth half
live without the help of any other Countrey for their Clothing for Tradesmen there are none but live happily there as Carpenters Blacksmiths Masons Taylors Weavers Shoemakers Tanners Brickmakers and so any other Trade Them that have no Trade betake themselves to Husbandry get Land of their own and live exceeding well We shall conclude our Discourse of this Countrey with a notable Character given thereof by a late Writer as to the great advantage of happy living in all respects for whosoever shall be pleas'd to betake himself thither to live The Character of a happy Countrey IF there be any terrestrial happiness saith he to be had by any People especially of an inferior rank it must certainly be here Here any one may furnish himself with Land and live Rent-free yea with such a quantity of Land that he may weary himself with walking over his Fields of Corn and all sorts of Grain and let his Stock amount to some hundreds he needs not fear there want of Pasture in the Summer or Fodder in the Winter the Woods affording sufficient supply where you have Grass as high as a Man's Knees nay as high as his Waste interlac'd with Pea-Vines and other Weeds that Cattel much delight in as much as a Man can pass through And these Woods also every Mile or half-Mile are furnish'd with fresh Ponds Brooks or Rivers where all sorts of Cattel during the heat of the day do quench their thirst and cool themselves These Brooks and Rivers being inviron'd of each side with several sorts of Trees and Grape-Vines Arbor-like interchanging places and croding these Rivers do shade and shelter them from the scorching beams of the Sun Such as by their utmost Labors can scarcely get a Living may here procure Inheritances of Lands and Possessions stock themselves with all sorts of Cattel enjoy the benefit of them whilst they live and leave them to their Children when they die Here you need not trouble the Shambles for Meat nor Bakers and Brewers for Beer and Bread nor run to a Linnen-Draper for a supply every one making their own Linnen and a great part of their woollen Cloth for their ordinary wearing And how prodigal if I may so say hath Nature been to furnish this Countrey with all sorts of wild Beasts and Fowl which every one hath an interest in and may Hunt at his pleasure where besides the pleasure in Hunting he may furnish his House with excellent fat Venison Turkies Geese Heath-hens Cranes Swans Ducks Pigeons and the like and wearied with that he may go a Fishing where the Rivers are so furnish'd that he may supply himself with Fish before he can leave off the Recreation Here one may travel by Land upon the same Continent hundreds of Miles and pass through Towns and Villages and never hear the least complaint for want nor hear any ask him for a Farthing Here one may lodge in the Fields and Woods travel from one end of the Countrey to another with as much security as if he were lock'd within his own Chamber And if one chance to meet with an Indian Town they shall give him the best Entertainment they have and upon his desire direct him on his Way But that which adds happiness to all the rest is the healthfulness of the Place where many People in twenty years time never know what Sickness is where they look upon it as a great Mortality if two or three die out of a Town in a years time Besides the sweetness of the Air the Countrey it self sends forth such a fragrant smell that it may be perceiv'd at Sea before they can make the Land No evil Fog or Vapor doth any sooner appear but a North-West or Westerly Wind immediately dissolves it and drives it away Moreover you shall scarce see a House but the South-side is begirt with Hives of Bees which increase after an incredible manner So that if there be any terrestrial Canaan 't is surely here where the Land floweth with Milk and Honey Noua TERRA-MARIAE tabula This Northerne part of Virginia the limitts whereof extend farther Southwards is heere inserted for the better description of the entrance into the Bay of Chesapeack A NEW DESCRIPTION OF MARY-LAND SECT III. BEfore We proceed to the Description of this Countrey it will be first requisite to relate the true occasion and means whereby this part of America came to be erected into a Province and call'd Mary-land In the Year of our Lord 1631. George Lord Baltimore obtain'd of King Charles the First of Great Brittain c. a Grant of that part of America first discover'd by the English which lies between the Degrees of thirty seven and fifty Minutes or thereabouts and forty of Northerly Latitude which is bounded on the South by Virginia on the North by New England and New Jersey The situation part of New York lying on the East side of Delaware Bay on the East by the Ocean and on the West by that part of the Continent which lies in the Longitude of the first Fountains of the River call'd Patomeck In pursuance of this Grant to his said Lordship a Bill was prepar'd and brought to His Majesty to Sign who first ask'd his Lordship what he should call it there being a Blank in the Bill designedly left for the Name which his Lordship intended should have been Crescentia but his Lordship leaving it to His Majesty to give it a Name the King propos'd to have it call'd Terra-Mariae in English Mary-land in honor of his Queen whose Name was Mary which was concluded on and inserted into the Bill which the King then Sign'd and thereby the said Tract of Land was erected into a Province by that Name His Lordship somewhat delaying the speedy passing of it under the Great Seal of England dy'd in the interim before the said Patent was perfected whereupon a Patent of the said Province was shortly afterwards pass'd to his Son and Heir who was Christen'd by the Name of Coecil but afterwards confirm'd by the Name of Coecilius the now Lord Baltemore under the Great Seal of England bearing Date June 20. 1632. in the eighth Year of His said Majesties Reign with all Royal Jurisdictions and Prerogatives both Military and Civil in the said Province as Power to Enact Laws Power of pardoning all manner of Offences Power to confer Honors c. to be held of His said Majesty His Heirs and Successors Kings of England in common Soccage as of His Majesties Honor of Windsor in the County of Berks in England yielding and paying yearly for the same to His Majesty and to His Heirs and Successors for ever two Indian Arrows of those parts at the Castle of Windsor aforesaid on Tuesday in Easter Week and the fifth part of all Gold and Silver Oar which shall happen to be found in the said Province The Bounds By the said Patent is Granted to his Lorship his Heirs and Assigns all that part of a Peninsula lying
in the parts of America between the Ocean on the East and the Bay of Chesapeack on the West and divided from the other part thereof by a right Line drawn from the Promontory or Cape of Land call'd Watkin's-Point situate in the aforesaid Bay near the River of Wigcho on the West unto the main Ocean on the East and between that bound on the South unto that part of Delaware Bay on the North which lies under the fortieth Degree of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial where New England ends and all that Tract of Land between the bounds aforesaid that is to say passing from the aforesaid Bay call'd Delaware Bay in a right Line by the Degree aforesaid unto the true Meridian of the first Fountains of the River of Patomeck and from thence stretching towards the South unto the furthest Bank of the said River and following the West and South side thereof unto a certain place call'd Cinquack near the Mouth of the said River where it falls into the Bay of Chesapeack and from thence by a streight Line unto the aforesaid Promontory or place call'd Watkins-Point which lies in thirty seven Degrees and fifty Minutes or thereabouts of Northern Latitude By this Patent his Lordship and his Heirs and Assigns are Created the true and absolute Lords and Proprietaries of the said Province Title saving the Allegiance and Soveraign Dominion due to His Majesty His Heirs and Successors so that he hath thereby a Soveraignty Granted to him and his Heirs dependant upon the Sovereignty of the Crown of England The first Seating His Lordship in the Year 1633. sent his second Brother Mr. Leonard Calvert and his third Brother Mr. George Calvert with divers other Gentlemen of Quality and Servants to the number of two hundred Persons at least to settle a Plantation there who set Sail from the Cowes in the Isle of Wight in England on Novemb. 22. in the same Year having made some stay by the way at the Barbadoes and St. Christophers in America they arriv'd at Point Comfort in Virginia on February 24. following from whence shortly after they Sail'd up the Bay of Chesapeack and Patomeck River And having review'd the Country and given Names to several places they pitch'd upon a Town of the Indians for their first Seat call'd Yoacomaco now Saint Maries which the then Governor Mr. Leonard Calvert freely Purchas'd of the Natives there for the Lord Proprietaries use with Commodities brought from England That which facilitated the Treaty and Purchase of the said place from the Indians was a resolution which those Indians had then before taken to remove higher into the Countrey where it was more Populous for fear of the Sansquehanocks another and more Warlike People of the Indians who were their too near Neighbors and inhabit between the Bays of Chesapeack and Delaware there being then actual Wars between them insomuch that many of them were gone thither before the English arriv'd And it hath been the general practice of his Lordship and those who were employ'd by him in the Planting of the said Province rather to purchase the Natives Interest who will agree for the same at easie rates than to take from them by force that which they seem to call their Right and Inheritance to the end all Disputes might be remov'd touching the forcible Incroachment upon others against the Laws of Nature or Nations Thus this Province at the vast Charges and by the unweary'd Industry and endeavor of the present Lord Baltemore the now absolute Lord and Proprietary of the same was at first Planted and hath since been supply'd with People and other Necessaries so effectually The number of Inhabitants that in this present Year 1671. the number of English there amounts to fifteen or twenty thousand Inhabitants for whose Encouragement there is a Fundamental Law establish'd there by his Lordship whereby Liberty of Conscience is allow'd to all that Profess to believe in Jesus Christ so that no Man who is a Christian is in danger of being disturb'd for his Religion and all Persons being satisfi'd touching his Lordships Right as Granted by his Superior Soveraign the King of Great Brittain and possess'd by the consent and agreement of the first Indian Owners every Person who repaireth thither intending to become an Inhabitant finds himself secure as well in the quiet enjoyment of his Property as of his Conscience Mr. Charles Calvert his Lordships onely Son and Heir was in the Year 1661. sent thither by his Lordship to Govern this Province and People who hath hitherto continu'd that Charge of his Lordships Lieutenant there to the general satisfaction and encouragement of all Persons under his Government or otherwise concern'd in the Province The precedent Discourse having given you a short Description of this Province from its Infancy to this day together with an account of his Lordships Patent and Right by which he holds the same we will here speak something of the Nature of the Countrey in general and of the Commodities that are either naturally afforded there or may be procur'd by Industry The Climate is very healthful and agreeable with English Constitutions but New-comers have most of them heretofore had the first year of their Planting there in July and August a Sickness which is call'd there A Seasoning but is indeed no other than an Ague with cold and hot Fits whereof many heretofore us'd to die for want of good Medicines and accommodations of Diet and Lodging and by drinking too much Wine and Strong-waters though many even in those times who were more temperate and that were better accommodated never had any Seasonings at all but of late years since the Countrey hath been more open'd by the cutting down of the Woods and that there is more plenty of English Diet there are very few die of those Agues and many have no Seasonings at all especially those that live in the higher parts of the Country and not near to the Marshes and Salt-water In Summer the heats are equal to those of Spain but qualifi'd daily about Noon at that time of the Year either with some gentle Breezes or small Showres of Rain In Winter there is Frost and Snow and sometimes it is extremely cold insomuch that the Rivers and the Northerly part of the Bay of Chesapeack are Frozen but it seldom lasts long and some Winters are so warm that People have gone in half Shirts and Drawers only at Christmas But in the Spring and Autumn viz. in March April and May September October and November there is generally most pleasant temperate Weather The Winds there are variable from the South comes Heat Gusts and Thunder from the North or North-West cold Weather and in Winter Frost and Snow from the East and South-East Rain The Soyl is very fertile and furnish'd with many pleasant and commodious Rivers Creeks and Harbors The Country is generally plain and even and yet distinguish'd with some pretty small Hills and Risings with variety
extent mention'd in the beginning The first Colony to be undertaken by certain Knights Gentlemen and Merchants in and about the City of London The second to be undertaken and advanc'd by certain Knights Gentlemen and Merchants and their Associates in or about the City of Bristol Exon Plymouth and other parts At the first Colonies Request in the seventh year of the same King a second Patent was Granted to several Noblemen and Gentlemen including Sir Thomas Gates and some of his former Fellow-Patentees bearing Date May 23. 1610. whereby they were made a Corporation and Body Politique and stil'd The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the first Colony of Virginia And by this Patent there was Granted to them their Successors and Assigns two hundred Miles to the Southward from a Cape of Land in Virginia call'd Point Comfort and two hundred Miles to the Northward of the said Cape along the Sea-shore and into the Land from Sea to Sea And on March 12. 1612. the said King in the ninth year of his Reign Grants them a third Patent of all Islands lying in the Sea within two hundred Miles of the Shore of that Tract of Land on the Continent granted to them by the said former Patent Jac. 7. In the Year 1615. Captain Smith procur'd by his Interest at Court and the King's Favor a Recommendation from His Majesty and divers of the Nobility to all Cities and Corporations to Adventure in a standing Lottery which was erected for the benefit of this Plantation which was contriv'd in such a manner that of 100000. Pounds which was to be put in 50000. onely or one half was to return to the Adventurers according as the Prizes fell out and the other half to be dispos'd of for the Promotion of the Affairs of Virginia in which though it were three years before it was fully accomplish'd he had in the end no bad Success In the eighteenth Year of the said King's Reign at the Request of the second Colony a Patent was Granted to several Noblemen and Gentlemen of all that Tract of Land lying in the parts of America between the Degrees of forty and forty eight of Northerly Latitude and into the Land from Sea to Sea which was call'd by the Patent New England in America For the better Government whereof one Body-Politick and Corporate was thereby appointed and ordain'd in Plymouth consisting of the said Noblemen Gentlemen and others to the number of forty Persons by the Name of The Council establish'd at Plymouth in the County of Devon for the Planting Ruling Ordering and Governing of New England im America The Patent of Virginia made void The Miscarriages and Misdemeanors of the aforesaid Corporation for the first Colony of Virginia were so many and so great that His said Majesty was forc'd in or about October 1623. to direct a Quo Warranto for the calling in of that former Patent which in Trinity Term following was legally Evinc'd Condemn'd and made Void by Judgment in the Court of the then Kings-Bench as also all other Patents by which the said Corporation claim'd any Interest in Virginia Thus this Corporation of the first Colony of Virginia was dissolv'd and that Plantation hath been since Govern'd and Dispos'd of by Persons Constituted and Impower'd for that purpose from time to time by immediate Commissions from the Kings of England The Patent of Mary-land granted to the Lord Baltem re In the Year of our Lord 1631. the Right Honorable George Lord Baltemore obtain'd a Grant of King Charles the First of Great Britain c. of part of that Land to the Northward which is now call'd Mary-land but this Patent of Mary-land was not perfected till 1632. as you may understand more fully by the precedent Discourse of Mary-land which by express words in the said Patent is separated from and thereby declar'd not to be reputed for the future any part of Virginia The Patent Carolina granted to several Noble Persons And in the fifteenth Year of the Reign of King Charles the Second of Great Britain c. on March 24. 1663. Edward Earl of Clarendon then High-Chancellor of England George Duke of Albemarle William now Earl of Craven John Lord Berkley Anthony Lord Ashley Sir George Carterett Knight and Baronet Sir William Berkley Knight and Sir John Colleton Knight and Baronet obtain'd a Patent from His Majesty of the Province of Carolina which lies to the Southward of Virginia in which is included some part of that Land which formerly belong'd to the said dissolv'd Company of Virginia So that Virginia at present extendeth it self onely and is situated between thirty six and thirty seven Degrees and fifty Minutes or thereabouts of Northern Latitude and is bounded on the North by Mary-land on the South by Carolina on the East by the Ocean and on the West by the South-Seas The Entrance by Sea into this Countrey is the same with that of Mary-land between Cape Henry and Cape Charles plac'd on each side of the Mouth of the Bay of Chesapeak Rivers of Virginia on the West side whereof you first meet with a pleasant and commodious River call'd James-River about three Miles wide at its Entrance and Navigable a hundred and fifty Fourteen Miles from this River Northward lies York-River which is Navigable sixty or seventy Miles but with Ketches and small Barques thirty or forty Miles farther Passing hence to the North you discover a third stately River call'd Rappahanock which is Navigable about a hundred and thirty Miles from whence following the Shore to the North you enter into Patomeck-River which is already describ'd in the precedent Discourse of Mary-land to which Province this River belongs whose Southerly Bank gives Bounds to that part of Virginia and Mary-land To these Rivers many other Inland Branches and Rivulets are reduc'd the chief of which are hereafter specifi'd Nature of the Countrey The Countrey is generally even the Soil fruitful the Climate healthful and agreeable with English Constitutions especially since the increase of Inhabitants and accommodation of good Diet and Lodging which the first Planters found great want of heretofore For many years till of late most New-comerâ— had the first Year in July and August a Disease which is call'd A Seasoning whereof many died like to what is mention'd before in the Description of Mary-land though more mortal and common than in Mary-land because Virgina is a lower Countrey and somewhat hotter insomuch that formerly divers ill of that Distemper have come purposely from Virginia to Mary-land to recover their Health but now since the Countrey is more open and clear from Wood few die of it and many have no Seasonings at all This Countrey affordeth generally all such Roots Herbs Gums and Balsoms as are express'd before in the Relation of Mary-land All sorts of Trees for Building and Husbandry Trees Fruit-Trees Vines c. are found in both Countreys equal in goodness
and quantity onely in such things as require more Sun and that may be produc'd by Industry there may be some little difference because Virginia is somewhat more to the Southward of Mary-land as in Vines Oranges Lemmons Olives Silk c. There is a Plant grows naturally in this Countrey Silk-Grass and in Mary-land call'd Silk-Grass which will make a fine Stuff with a silky Gloss and better Cordage than Hemp or Flax both for strength and durance The wild Beasts Birds and Fish are much the same also in this Countrey as are before describ'd in the precedent Description of Mary-land Nevertheless we shall think it proper not to omit some Fruits Plants Beasts c. mention'd by the most authentick Describers of New England Fruits peculiar to Virginia as peculiar to that Countrey The Fruits are their Putchamines which are a kind of Damsons Messamines a kind of Grapes Chechinquamins a sort of Fruit resembling a Chesnut Rawcomens a Fruit resembling a Gooser-berry Macoquer a kind of Apple Mettaquesunnauks a sort of Fruit resembling Inkian Figs Morococks resembling a Straw-berry besides a Berry which they call Ocoughtanamnis somewhat like to Capers Their peculiar Roots are Tockawaugh Roots good to eat Wichsacan of great vertue in healing of Wounds Pocones good to asswage Swellings and Aches Musquaspen wherewith they Paint their Targets and Mats Also they have in great request a Pulse call'd Assentamen and the Plant Mattouna of which they make Bread Their peculiar Beasts are Beasts the Aroughena resembling a Badger the Assapanick or Flying-Squerril Opassum a certain Beast having a Bag under her Belly wherein she carrieth and suckleth her Young Mussascus which smelling strong of Musk resembleth a Water-Rat Utchunquois a kind of wild Cat. Their peculiar Fish are Stingrais On the West side of the Bay of Chesapeak between Cape Henry and the Southerly Bank of the River of Patomeck are three fair Navigable Rivers as is before mention'd into which the other small Rivulets fall Rivulets which here we will give some account of as also of the Indian or antient Names by which these three principal Rivers were formerly known The first whereof is Powhatan now call'd James-River according to the Name of a large and considerable Territory that lieth upon it The Rivers that fall into this Southward are Apamatuck Eastward Quiyonycohanuc Nansamund and Chesopeak and Northward Chickamahania The second Navigable River is Pamaunkee by the English now term'd York-River The Rivulet that falls into this is Poyankatanck The third which is before describ'd and usually known by the Name of Rappahanoc was formerly term'd Toppahanoc This we thought fit here to insert to the end no colour of mistake might remain to after Ages concerning the derivation or original change of such proper Names especially being Places of great advantage to the Colony Several People of the ancient Natives of Virginia The chiefest of those Tribes or Divisions of People among the Indians that were by Name known to the English at their first arrival were upon the River Pouhatan the Kecoughtans the Paspaheghes on whose Land is seated James-Town the Weanocks Arrohatocks the Appametocks the Nandsamunds the Chesapeacks c. On the River Pamaunkee are the Younghtanunds the Mattapaments c. On the River Toppahanoc the Manahoacks the Moraughtacunds and the Cuttatawomens On the River Patawomek the Wighcocomocans the Onawmanients and the Moyanances On the River Pawtuxunt the Acquintacsuacs the Pawtuxunts and the Matapunients On the River Bolus the Sasquesabanoes Southward from the Bay the Chawonocks the Mangoacks the Monacans the Mannahocks the Masawomecks the Atquanahucks and the Kuscarawaocks besides a number not material to be nam'd as having had little of Transaction that we hear of with the Planters Number of Inhabitants The number of English Inhabitants in this Countrey are in this present Year 1671. about thirty or forty thousand who are plentifully stock'd with all sorts of tame Cattel as Cows Sheep Horses Swine c. and all sorts of English Grain great store of brave Orchards for Fruit whereof they make great quantities of Cyder and Perry They have been much oblig'd by that worthy Gentleman Mr. Edward Digges Son of Sir Dudley Digges who was Master of the Rolls and a Privy Councellor to King Charles the First of Great Brittain c. For the said Mr. Digges at his great Charge and Industry hath very much advanc'd the making of Silk in this Countrey for which purpose he hath sent for several Persons out of Armenia to teach them that Art and how to wind it off the Cods of the Silk-Worms and hath made at his own Plantation in this Colony for some years last past considerable quantities of Silk which is found to be as good Silk as any is in the World which hath encourag'd divers others to prosecute that Work The Commodities of Virginia Though this Countrey be capable of producing many other good Commodities yet the Planters have hitherto imploy'd themselves for the most part in Planting of Tobacco as they do in Mary-land whereof there are two sorts one which is call'd Sweet-scented and the other call'd Oranoack or Bright and Large which is much more in quantity but of lesser Price than the former and the Plantations upon York River are esteem'd to produce the best of that sort of Sweet-scented There is so much of this Commodity Planted in Virginia and Imported from thence into England that the Custom and Excize paid in England for it yields the King about fifty or threescore thousand Pounds Sterling per annum With this Commodity the Planter buys of the Ships that come thither for it which are above a hundred Sail yearly from England and other English Plantations all Necessaries of Clothing and other Utensils of Houshold-stuff c. which they want though they make some Shoes and Linnen and Woollen Cloth in some parts of Virginia of the growth and Manufacture of the Countrey and if they would Plant less Tobacco as it is probable they will e're long find it convenient for them to do it being now grown a Drug of very low value by reason of the vast quantities Planted of it they might in a little time provide themselves of all Necessaries of Livelyhood and produce much richer and more Staple-Commodities for their advantage Their usual way of Traffique in buying and selling is by exchange of one Commodity for another and Tobacco is the general Standard by which all other Commodities receive their value but they have some English and foreign Coyns which serve them upon many occasions The Government is by a Governor and Council Appointed and Authoriz'd from time to time by immediate Commission from the King of Great Brittain And Laws are made by the Governor with the consent of a General Assembly which consists of two Houses an Upper and a Lower the first consists of the Council and the latter of the Burgesses chosen by the Freemen of the Countrey and Laws
whose Principles not being corrupted with Learning and Distinction are contented to follow the Dictates of right Reason which Nature has sufficiently taught all Men for the well ordering of their Actions and enjoyment and preservation of humane Society who do not give themselves up to be amus'd and deceiv'd by insignificant Terms and minding what is just and right seek not Evasions in the Niceties and Fallacies of Words Carolina granted by Patent to several Noble Persons by His Majesty The same is to be said of the first discovery of this Countrey as hath been formerly said of Virginia and Florida of both which it partakes but as to the present Interest and Propriety the English besides all Virginia intirely have also so much of Florida as makes up this considerable Province of Carolina which soon after the happy Restauration of His present Majesty King Charles II. from whom it receives Denomination was granted by Patent to Edward Earl of Clarendon L. Chancellor of England George Duke of Albemarle William Earl of Craven John Lord Berkley Anthony Lord Ashley Sir George Carteret Vice-Chamberlain of His Majesty's Houshold Sir William Berkley Knight and Baronet and Sir John Colleton Knight and Baronet The Lords-Proprietors of this Countrey for the better Settlement of it according to their Patent granted unto them by His Majesty and for the enlargement of the King's Dominions in those parts of America have been at great Charge to secure this so rich and advantageous a Countrey to the Crown of England to whom of ancient Right by the Discovery of Sir Sebastian Cabott in the time of Henry the Seventh it doth belong and for its Situation Fertility Neighborhood to our other Plantations and several other Conveniences of too valuable consideration to be negligently lost By the Care therefore and Endeavors of those Great Men Their care for Setling and Improving of this Plantation it hath now two considerable Colonies Planted in it the one of Albemarle on the North side bordering on Virginia where are some hundreds of English Families remov'd thither from New England and some of our other Plantations in the West-Indies and another towards the middle of the Countrey at Charles-Town or Ashley-River a Settlement so hopeful for the healthiness of the Land and convenience of access by a large deep Navigable River and so promising in its very Infancy that many of the rich Inhabitants of Barbados and Bermudas who are now crowded up in those flourishing Islands and many in our other American Plantations are turning their Eyes and Thoughts this way and have already remov'd part of their Stock and Servants thither Nor is it to be doubted but that many following the Example of those who went to Albemarle will be drawn to this better Plantation at Ashley-River from New-England where the heat of their Zeal and the coldness of the Air doth not agree with every Man's Constitution and therefore it is to be thought that many well temper'd Men who are not much at ease under such Extreams will be forward to remove hither Fair Terms propos'd to whomsoever shall remove thither The Lords-Proprietors for the comfortable subsistence and future enrichment of all those who shall this Year 1671. Transport themselves and Servants thither allow every Man a hundred Acres per Head for himself his Wife Children and Servants he carries thither to him and his Heirs for ever paying onely one Peny an Acre as a Chief-Rent which Peny an Acre is not to be paid these nineteen years and those Servants who go along thither with their Masters shall each also have a hundred Acres upon the same Terms when he is out of his Time But though these Conditions are very advantageous and the Countrey promises to the Planter Health Plenty and Riches at a cheap Rate yet there is one thing that makes this Plantation more valuable than all these and that is the secure possession of all these things with as great certainty as the state of humane Affairs and the transient things of this Life are capable of in a well continu'd Form of Government wherein it is made every Man's Interest to preserve the Rights of his Neighbor with his own and those who have the greatest Power have it limited to the Service of the Countrey the Good and Welfare whereof whilest they preserve and promote they cannot miss of their own the Lords Proprietors having no other aim than to be the greatest Men in a Countrey where every one may be happy if it be not his own fault it being almost as uncomfortable and much more unsafe to be Lord over than Companion of a miserable unhappy and discontented Society of Men. With this Design the Lords-Proprietors who are at great Charge for carrying on this Plantation have put the framing of a Government into the Hands of one whose Parts and Experience in Affairs of State are universally agreed on and who is by all Men allow'd to know what is convenient for the right ordering Men in Society and setling a Government upon such Foundations as may be equal safe and lasting and to this hath a Soul large enough to wish well to Mankind and to desire that all the People where he hath to do might be happy My Lord Ashley therefore by the consent of his Brethren the rest of the Lords Proprietors hath drawn up to their general satisfaction some fundamental Constitutions which are since by their joynt approbation confirm'd to be the Model and Form of Government in the Province of Carolina the main Design and Ballance thereof according to the best of my memory having had a Copy thereof in short is as followeth The Model drawn up by the Lord Ashley for the Government of Carolina 1. EVery County is to consist of forty square Plots each containing twelve thousand Acres Of these square Plots each of the Proprietors is to have one which is to be call'd a Signiory Eight more of these square Plots are to be divided amongst the three Noble-men of that County viz. a Landgrave who is to have four of them and two Casiques who are to have each of them two apiece and these square Plots belonging to the Nobility are to be call'd Baronies The other twenty four square Plots call'd Colonies are to be the Possession of the People And this Method is to be observ'd in the Planting and Setting out of the whole Countrey so that one Fifth of the Land is to be in the Proprietors one Fifth in the Nobility and three Fifths in the People 2. The Signories and Baronies that is the hereditary Lands belonging to the Proprietors and Nobility are all entirely to descend to their Heirs with the Dignity without power of alienation more than for three Lives or one and twenty years or two Thirds of their Signiories and Baronies and the rest to be Demesne 3. There will be also some Mannors in the Colonies but none less than three thousand Acres in a Piece which like the
rest of the Colony Lands will be alienable onely with this difference that it cannot be parcell'd out but if fold it must be altogether 4. There is to be a Biennial Parliament consisting of the eight Proprietors the Landgraves and Casiques and one out of every Precinct that is the six neighboring Colonies for the People chosen by the Freeholders these are to sit and Vote altogether for the making of Laws which shall be in force no longer than sixty years after their Enacting the great mischief of most Governments by which not onely the People are mightily entangled by multiplicity of Rules and Penalties and thereby laid open to the Malice and Designs of troublesom Men and cunning Projectors but which is far worse the whole frame of the Government in tract of time comes to be remov'd from its original Foundation and thereby becomes more weak and tottering 5. There are eight supream Courts for the dispatch of all publick Affairs the first consists of the Palatine who is the eldest of the Proprietors and hath power to call Parliaments and dispose of publick Offices The other seven supream Courts are 1. The chief Justices for the determining of Controversies of Meunt and Tuum and judging of Criminals 2. The Chancellors for passing of Charters and managing the State Matters of the Province 3. The High-Constables for Military Affairs 4. The Admirals for Maritime Affairs 5. The High-Stewards for Trade 6. The Treasurers for the publick Stock and 7. The Chamberlains for Ceremonies Fashions Marriages Burials c. These are the seven supream Courts to whom lies the ultimate Appeal in all Causes belonging to them Each of these Courts consists of one Proprietor and six other Councellors whereof two are chosen by the Nobility and two by the People All the number of these eight Courts joyn'd together make the Grand Council which are in the nature of a Council of State and are entrusted with the management of Affairs of greatest concernment There is also in every County a Court and in every Precinct another from the Precinct Court there lies an Appeal to the County Court and from the County Court to the Proprietors Court to which the Matter in question belongs and there is the last decision and determination thereof without any farther Appeal And to keep the People from the Charges and vexation of long Suits to the enriching of Men cunning in Words care is taken that no Cause shall be Try'd more than once in any one Court and that profess'd Pleaders for Money shall not be allow'd Liberty of Conscience is here also allow'd in the greatest latitude but yet so that neither Atheists or Men of no Religion are permitted Atheism Irreligion and vicious Lives being condemn'd as disagreeable to humane Nature inconsistent with Government and Societies and destructive to all that is useful to or becoming of Mankind as on the other hand rigorous Imposing of and hot Contentions about the Ceremonies and Circumstances of Religion is an occasion of perpetual Strife Faction and Division keeps Men from sedate and temperate Enquiries after Truth eats out the great Cement of humane Conversation Charity and cannot be found in any one who hath but modesty enough to think himself less than a Pope and short of Infallibility There is also to be a Register of all Grants and Conveyances of Land to prevent even the occasions of Controversies and Law-Suits There are several other less considerable Particulars in this Government all contriv'd and design'd for the good and welfare of the People all which are so well put together and in such equal proportion ballance each other that some judicious Men who have seen it say it is the best and fairest Frame for the well-being of those who shall live under it of any they have seen or read of CHAP. III. Florida Situation and Bounds SOuth-West of Virginia lieth the spacious Countrey of Florida remarkable hitherto rather by the great pains which the Spaniards have taken and the ill Successes they have met with in the discovery and search of this Province than by any thing else they have discover'd in it answerable to their desires On the East it hath the Atlantick Ocean or Mare del Nordt on the South and South-West the Gulph of Mexico and Mare Virginium and full West part of New Gallicia and some other Countreys not yet perfectly known This Countrey is also one of those said to have been first of all discover'd by Sir Sebastian Cabot at the Charges of the King of England about the Year 1497. but afterwards more throughly search'd into by John some de Leon a Spaniard Ponce's Expedition who in the Year 1511. set Sail with three Ships out of the Haven St. German in Porto Rico North-West to the Isles Del Veio Caycos Yaguna Amaguyao Manegua and Guanahani first discover'd by Christopher Colonus and call'd St. Salvador After that Steer'd North-West by a Coast which because of its pleasant prospect was call'd Florida or according to the more common Opinion because it was on Palm-Sunday which the Spaniards call Pascha de Flores or Pascha Florida that he Landed here And to find out a Haven he kept sight of the Shore which appear'd South-West from him Here the Ships met with so strong a Tide that notwithstanding they had a fresh Gale of Wind yet could they not stem it one of the Ships was driven to Sea out of sight the other two casting Anchor which raking drove toward the Shore whither being beckned by the Indians they immediately went when no sooner he Landed but they ran in great Companies to make themselves Masters of the Vessels kill'd one Spaniard wounded two more the Night approaching put an end to the Fight From hence Sailing to the River La Cruix for Wood and Water they were resisted by sixty Natives which they put to flight with their Guns and took one Prisoner after which they erected a Stone Cross The Promontory by which glides the strong Current lies in twenty Degrees North-Latitude and call'd Cabo de Corrientes as the Row of Isles before the Main Land Los Martyres because the Cliffs at a distance appear like Men standing on Poles Lastly after some small Encounters with the Floridans Ponce return'd home Water to make old People look young being onely inform'd falsly by the Indians that in Florida was a River and on the Isle Bimini a Fountain whose Waters made old People young On the King's Command the Spaniards were permitted to make inspection into the Countrey in which they were every where courteously Entertain'd and not without Gold and Silver Presents Treachery of Vasquez Returning Aboard Vasquez invited the. Indians to go with him under pretence of returning them thanks for the Favours which they had bestowed upon him but no sooner had he gotten a considerable number in his Ships but he set Sail and losing one Ship arriv'd with the other safe at Hispaniola with a few Indians Indians misused
himself to Avalon to inspect his Concerns there in Person from whence returning the same year he Embarqu'd himself again together with his Lady and all his Family except his eldest Son for Avalon the year following at which time there being then War between England and France he redeem'd above twenty Sail of English Ships which had been taken there that year by French Men of War whereof one Monsieur De la Rade had the chief Command and shortly after took six French Fishing Ships upon that Coast and sent them the same year with a great many French-men Prisoners into England Coming thence he left a Deputy there and continu'd the Plantation till his Death which was in April 1632. After whose Decease it descended of right to his Son and Heir Cecil now Lord Baltemore who thereupon sent one Captain William Hill as his Deputy thither to take possession thereof and to manage his Interest there for him Captain Hill according to his Commission shortly after repair'd thither and liv'd some years at the Lord Baltemore's House at Ferryland above mention'd In the thirteenth Year of King Charles the First of England c. about the Year of our Lord 1638. Marquess Hamilton Earl of Pembroke Sir David Kirk and others under pretence that the Lord Baltemore had deserted that Plantation obtain'd a Patent of all New-found Land wherein Avalon was included and shortly after dispossess'd the Lord Baltemore of his Mansion House in Ferryland and other Rights there and during the late Rebellion in England kept possession but His now Majesty King Charles the Second immediately after his most happy Restauration in the Year 1660 upon the now Lord Baltemore's Petition thought fit to refer the whole Matter to be Examin'd by Sir Orlando Bridgeman then Lord-Chief Justice now Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal of England and others to report the true state thereof to His Majesty together with their Opinions thereupon The Referrees accordingly upon full hearing of Council on both sides certifi'd That they conceiv'd the said Patent to Sir George Calvert to be a good Patent in force and not avoided by the later to Sir David Kirk and others and that the Title and Interest to the said Province did therefore belong to the Lord Baltemore Whereupon His Majesty on the twentieth of March in the same Year Order'd the Possession thereof to be re-deliver'd to his Lordship which was accordingly executed Since which time his Lordship has peaceably enjoy'd the possession thereof and continues the Plantation to this day by deputing Lieutenants there from time to time for the better Government of that Province the rest of New found Land remaining still to the aforesaid Proprietors claiming by the Patent of 13 Car. 1. The Commodities that are either by Art or Nature produc'd there are the same with those of the remainder of New-found Land The Winter there is extream cold the Summer very hot but withal pleasant and during that Season there is great plenty of Pasture for Cattel The Coast of this Province is very safe and as well furnish'd with variety of bold and pleasant Harbors as any other part of New-found Land where the English likewise Fish for Cod the lesser sort whereof is call'd Poor-John which is there caught in great abundance especially at Ferryland and in the Bay of Bulls Besides these two there are divers other excellent Harbors on the Eastern Shore of Avalon as Capling Bay Cape Broyle Brittus Isle of Spears Barrom Cove Whitburns Bay and Petit Harbour above mention'd On the West are the Bay of Placentia and several other good Harbors There are no Indians in Avalon and but few English by reason of the excessive Cold in Winter though Sir David Kirk and his Lady and also his Family liv'd in the Lord Baltemore's House at Ferryland for the space of ten years and upwards The Soil seems to promise great store of Mines which probably may in time be disover'd The late Lord Baltemore took accidentally a piece of Oar up that lay there upon the surface of the Earth and brought it with him into England which was found upon trial to yield a greater proportion of Silver than the Oar of Potosi in the West-Indies but hitherto no Mine of it hath been discover'd there The Trade of Fishing being of so great concernment to the Nation of England the same if it be well manag'd in this Island of Terra Nova will employ every year above two hundred Sail of English Ships and ten thousand Mariners besides the great benefit which may accrue unto the Nation by Imposition upon Strangers there which would amount to several thousands of Pounds per Annum with which those Coasts may be Guarded and Ships Trading thither secur'd besides the great Customs by the Ships call'd The Sacks being commonly in great numbers every year who carry Fish from New-found Land into the Straights France Portugal and Spain and who bring their Returns into England as Bullion and all other native Commodities of those Countreys If the Island were well fortifi'd we might Command all those of other Nations that come to Fish in New-found Land to pay Contribution in Fish or otherwise for their Priviledge to Fish there the said Island being first Planted by English and pertaining to the Kingdom of England or if occasion should require they might be utterly debarr'd of Fishing there The Trade of Fishing is of so great concernment to France Spain Portugal the Straights and other Parts that they cannot well be without that yearly Supply in Fish which comes from that Island Neither can the Hollanders Spaniards or Portuguese well set any Ships to the West-Indies without New-found Land Fish there being none that will endure to pass the Line sound and untainted but the Fish of that Countrey salted and dry'd there And so long as the Act continues still in force That no Fish be Transported from the said Island but in English Bottoms it will contribute very much to our encrease of Shipping there and by consequence of the employment of Mariners and the Fishing of that part of the Island will be solely appropriated to the English Nation to whom of right it belongs which will prove the greatest Ballance of Trade in that part of the World and that whereas above two hundred Sail do Trade thither yearly to Fish if a thousand Sail come if there be but Fisher-men enow they may all have Fraughtage there The French if once the Island be fortifi'd will be depriv'd of their Nursery of Mariners this being the onely place besides Canada and one or two adjacent Coasts where they come for supply of Fish with which that Nation cannot be furnish'd so well from other Parts By well Planting and Fortifying New-found Land the Trading to Virginia New England and those Parts would be much encourag'd New England having had of late great Traffick with New-found Land where they vend the Growth of their Plantation Besides New-found Land is a Key to the Gulf of
Religion They believe that the Sun many Ages since was Darken'd or Ecclips'd twenty four Hours together during which time the Waters over-flow'd the highest Mountains except that of Olaimi where there stood a stately Temple built in honor of the Sun in which all those that fled thither were preserv'd and dispers'd afterwards into several parts to re-people the World as soon as the Waters were abated and the Sun appear'd in his full lustre again whereupon they imagine that to this day their Bird Tonatzuli at the Rising of the Sun congratulates his appearance with great joy and at his Setting requests his speedy return from under the Horizon The Bird Tonatzuli The Tonatzuli is a Bird like a Bull-Finch onely its Belly and Wings are of a Golden colour the Back and Tail blue its Head adorn'd with divers colour'd Feathers its Claws and Bill like Ivory and it Sings like a Nightingale Description of the Mountain Olaimi As for Olaimi it is a perfect round Mountain the Way which leads to the top thereof runs winding two Leagues long and is planted on each side with Cedar Pine-Trees Cassine and Sassafras the top of which is a fair Plain a League in circumference Eastward from it is a Cavern to which Nature hath afforded more Convenience and Ornament than could be given to the same by Art and Charges The first Beams of the Rising Sun dart into the Cavern which being oval appears like a white Vault which on the top hath a great Hole for the Air to go in at The bottom is like the purest Marble on the Floor stands a Stone Cistern to receive the Moisture which drops out of the Rocks Whilest the People Danc'd on the fore-mention'd Plain Feasted and Sung the Priests Offer'd Myrrhe and all manner of Perfumes The Clothes which the Rich gave to the Sun were distributed amongst the Poor according to a List which was taken of them The occasion of the Apalachites embracing Christianity But in process of time the Apalachites have most of them embrac'd the Christian Religion the first occasion thereof was this When John Ribauld had brought a French Colony to Florida and gain'd a Fort which from King Charles the Ninth he nam'd Charles-Fort the Spanish Commander Peter Melendez fell unawares upon him and so far impower'd his Men who had of themselves a natural hatred against the French that they spar'd neither Man Woman nor Child onely ten Men escaping the bloody Banquet fled to the Floridan King Zaturiona where they were kindly receiv'd and hearing of the Civility and Power of the King of Apalache desir'd that they might go thither which Zaturiona not onely granted but also furnish'd the seven French-men for the other three were dead with good Guides who visited Zaturiona's Relations living in several Villages along the pleasant Stream Selay over which they pass'd on large Boughs artificially joyn'd together and travell'd through Woods Marshes and Mountains full of ravenous Beasts and sometimes Engag'd with the stragling Floridans which lurk'd in the most desolate Wildernesses having travell'd two days Journey by an Ambuscade of King Timago's People they lost two of their Guides the rest being dangerously wounded and through many Difficulties came at last to Avoeka and from thence to the King of Apalache's Court who receiv'd them all with great kindness Whereupon they resolv'd being induc'd thereto by their courteous Reception fruitfulness of the Soil and good Customs of the Inhabitants to Settle themselves all but two of them who return'd with the Guides to Zaturiona the rest that stay'd there endeavor'd by promulgating the Christian Religion to reduce the Pagans to the belief thereof which-many embrac'd and also learn'd the French Tongue notwithstanding their Priests Jaova's oppos'd the same After the death of the French which the Apalachites much bemoan'd their Idolatry had like to have gotten the upper hand again had not some English Families fleeing from Virginia from the Cruelties of the Indians and notable to reach New England Landed at Florida with intention at first onely to get fresh Provisions but Rowing up the River Selay and taken with the pleasantness they chose the Province Bemarin for their Habitation where accordingly they Setled Anno 1621. Amongst them were several Learned Men which so effectually perswaded the Heathens to embrace the Christian Faith that in twenty eight years time the King and most of his Nobles were Converted and Baptiz'd by them in the chief City Melilot But since our Design is onely to give you an exact Account of those People which inhabit the Islands lying before America it is sufficient that we have shew'd you how they are Extracted from the Cofachites and the Apalachites As to the Customs of the Caribbeeans since they are very much alter'd by their long Conversation with the Europeans we cannot better inform our selves of their antient Gustoms than from those which to this day are observ'd on St. Vincent and some parts of the Main Continent where the Caribbeeans have learn d nothing from any Strangers Description of the Caribbeeans The Caribbeeans are a well proportioned People with broad Shoulders and Hips round Faces without Beards wide Mouthes white Teeth little Eyes like the Tartars Feet so hard that they are almost Dart-proof flat Noses so made by squeezing them down in their Infancy and long black Hair There are few or no deformed People amongst them all of them go stark naked and paint their Bodies Red witlr a Plant call'd Rocou and Oyl about their Eyes they draw a black Circle with the Juice of the Apple Junipa This their Painting serves them both as an Ornament and to make them strong Others anoint their Bodies all over with a glewy Stuff on which they stick all sorts of Feathers Others use Gum and Flowers Moreover they adorn their Head with Plumes their Ears with Fish-bones or Scales of the Caret or pieces of Crystal which they also hang in their Lips and Noses The Men wear Armlets near their Shoulders and the Women about their Wrists about their Legs they tie for Garters Strings of Seeds others take a pride in wearing the Bones of their slain Enemies and the Teeth of the Agouty Tygers wild Cats or Cockle shells When they appear in greatest lustre then they wear Armlets under their Arm-pits and also Scarfs of Feathers which either hang over their Shoulders or are girt about their Middle so that one end thereof touches their Thighs They set an exceeding value on certain pieces of Copper call'd Caracolis the least of which they hang in their Ears and the biggest before their Breasts and because they are fetch'd out of the Province of the Arovages their Enemies they are esteem'd as Marks of true Valor and he is highly esteem'd that wears them The Caribbeeans which Converse with the Europeans Their Language speak two sorts of Languages the oldest of which is smooth acceptable fluent and for the most part spoke between the Lips According
according to the Pope's Gift belong'd to his Master Philip and insisting upon that Allegation he commanded them to quit their Right to the Place to which purpose he restor'd them six of the nine Ships taken at Nevis on Condition that they should immediately set Sail for England onely those whom the six Vessels were not able to carry were permitted to stay on the Island till the next opportunity After which Toledo weighing Anchor was scarce out of sight when the English began to take new Courage and gathering together to repair their ruin'd Works as well as possibly they could with what Forces they had left for besides those who went for England in the six Ships being near two thousand the Spanish Admiral took six hundred choice English which he distributed amongst his Fleet whilest Desambuc suffer'd a great deal of hardship not onely through ill Weather at Sea but also for want of Provisions Having during this time been on the Islands St. Martin Montserrat and Antego thinking to have possess'd himself of some or other of them in stead of St. Christophers but not finding such a fruitful Soil and convenient Situation as what he had been forc'd to forsake he was not forward to fix there but rather judg'd it convenient to enquire concerning the Condition of St. Christophers and at last being inform'd by a Ketch that the Enemy was gone to Havana and the English were busie in Tilling their Lands he return'd to his old Station where nevertheless their Endeavors to repair what was ruin'd had been in vain by reason of the scarcity of Provisions and want of other Necessaries had not in their greatest extremity some Netherland Vessels arriving there furnish'd them with Provisions Clothes and other Necessaries on bare promises of payment But not long after growing rich with Tobacco Sugars Ginger and Indigo they made Satisfaction to all their Creditors and at last attain'd to the Condition before mention'd In the late War between Us and the Dutch the French taking advantage of our Engagement endeavor'd to destroy our Plantations there and to make themselves Masters of the whole Island but the Matter being at last brought to some Agreement Sir Charles Wheeler hath been very lately sent over thither by His Majesty to re-settle Affairs there and order the Capitulations between the French and English CHAP. XIX The Islands Sotavento and the Isle Trinidado IN the Division we found to be made of the Islands that lie between Florida and New Spain and Southern America the last are the Isles of Sotavento which are reckon'd to be these three Margareta Cubagua and Tabago but the last is by most accounted and hath been mention'd amongst the Caribbees Situation of Margareta Margareta so call'd from the abundance of Pearls of which the Spanish Appellation comes near the Latine Margaritae found there by the Spaniards at their first Discovery lies about the twelfth Degree of Northern Latitude over against the Main Land of Cumana from which it is distant about seven Leagues It is accounted sixteen Leagues long and half as much in breadth and was discover'd by Columbus in his third Voyage in the Year of our Lord 1498. and was at first in great reputation in regard of the rich Pearl-fishing upon its Coasts wherein the Spaniards more favorable it seems to the Natives of this Place than usual because of their readiness to discover their Treasures employ'd Negro's brought from the Coast of Guinee whom by severe Punishments inflicted they forc'd to such excessive Labor that many of them though excellent Divers were drown'd others either devour'd or lam'd by the ravenous great Fish thereabouts and by destroying the very Seed through their insatiable greediness after Pearl brought the Trade of Pearl-fishing in a short time to a very small Account in respect of what it might have been had it been well husbanded Nor hath this Island of late Years been much frequented only in the Year 1601. Captain Parker with a Fleet of English put on Shore here and took as many Prisoners as he had five hundred pounds of Pearl for the Ransom of and at his coming away took a Ship he met from off the Coast of Angola with three hundred and seventy Negro's aboard her who were going to be sold for Slaves The Soil is not unfruitful bringing forth several sorts of Fruit and store of Maiz and probably if improv'd would as well bear Wheat and other usual kinds of Grain but there is great want of Water which the Inhabitants are troubled to fetch from the neighboring Continent Towns and Places of chief note The Places of chief note are 1. Monpater a Fort built by the Spaniards in a Nook of the Island lying Eastward to secure the Pearl-fishing Trade and to defend the Town where the Governor resides as also the Treasurer of the King of Spain's Customs of Pearl which have been formerly valu'd at 50000 l. yearly 2. El valle de Santa Lucia two Leagues from this Town and as much from the Sea a Spanish Colony Macanao the onely noted Place belonging to the Natives SECT II. Cubagua Situation of Cubagua CUbagua lies South-West of Margarita about the eleventh Degree of North-Latitude a League or thereabouts distant from Margarita and six Leagues from the nearest Continent and about three Leagues in circumference This is also a very great Place for Pearl-fishing the benefit whereof hath been so considerable that the King of Spain's Fifths are said to have amounted some years to fifteen thousand Ducats but otherwise of a poor and barren Soil not onely destitute of Water but of Fruit Grain Herbage and all manner of Cattel and eatable Beasts except a few lean Coneys nevertheless in respect of the Pearl-fishing Trade the Spaniards have Planted here a Colony which they call'd New Cadiz having plenty of Provisions brought them from the adjoining Coasts and soon after their first Planting grew in a short time so powerful that they became Masters of one of the best Ports of those Seas call'd Maracapana Venezuela but upon an Alarm of the Salvages of Cumana for a while deserted the Island and betook themselves to Hispaniola from whence nevertheless being remanded back with fresh Supplies under the Command of James de Castellon they soon re-instated themselves in their former Plantation and made it more strong and flourishing than before in which state they remain'd as long as the Pearl-fishing Trade continu'd but that decaying the splendor also of this Colony declin'd so that at present the onely thing which makes the Place remarkable is a Fountain on the East part of the Island not far from the Sea yielding a liquid bituminous Water of singular use in Medicine and sometimes found floating on the Sea at two or three Leagues distance The Island Coche About four Leagues distant from Cubagua there is an Island call'd Coche about three Miles in compass It was discover'd in the Year 1529. and was formerly little less considerable for
was undertaken by Captain Luke Fox who at his Return gave very good hopes and encouragement that the Work so long in prosecution was not impossible to effected nevertheless by reason of the late troublesom Times i◠〈…〉 wholy laid aside for almost forty years but in the Year 1668. several Persons of Honor undertook to revive the Work and to that purpose furnish'd out two Ships which set forth in June and return'd about the beginning of October the Year following giving so satisfactory an Account of their Voyage that in the Year 1670. the same Adventurers thought fit to send out two Ships more so furnish'd as to endure a Wintering there which they did with greater hopes than ever of finding out the North-West Passage besides a handsom Caâ—go of rich Furrs which made it more than a saving Voyage so that 't is suppos'd this will not be the last Attempt but that another will suddenly follow And it may well be observ'd that nothing considerable hath been done in this grand Enterprize but by the English A brief View of what Places are posses'd at this day in the West-Indies by the English Spaniards French Portuguese and Dutch THe English possess in Northern Amerrica New England the Bay of Trinity Chincet and a part of Terra Nova or New-found Land Virginia part of Florida now call'd Carolina the Bermudas or Summer-Islands New Holland which they took from the Dutch An. 1664. with New Amsterdam and Fort Orange Terra Mariae or Mary-Land part of the Isles call'd Lucaies among the Antillae or Caribbee-Islands Barbados Anguilla part of St. Christophers Montserrat Nieves or Mevis Antego Dominico and St. Vincent the Isle of St. Catherine otherwise call'd Providence Jamaica the Isles of Curacao and Trinity several Colonies at Surinam and Sinamari with several Forts upon the Coast of Guiana and lastly the Haven Porto Bello once the Spaniards The Spaniards possess the greatest and best part of America wherein they have a vast number of very considerable Towns In Northern America they have 1. New Spain in which are the Audiences of Mexico Guadalajara and Guatimala 2. The Islands Cuba and Hispaniola excepting some parts towards the West which are in possession of the French Boriquen c. also St. Augustine and St. Matthew in Florida and a part of New Mexico In Southern America Castilla d' Oro or Golden Castile otherwise call'd Terra Firma in which are the Audiences of Quito Lima and La Plata lastly Chili and Paraguay which comprehends the Countreys of Tucuman and La Plata The French have in Canada or Nova Francia Montreal the Rivers Quebeck Tadousack and some Places upon the great River of St. Lawrence also Accadie or Nova Scotia the Isle of Cape Breton with the Fort St. Peter from whence they Traffick to Nepigiquit with the Salvages of that Coast part of the Isle of Terre-Neuve Pemptagoet St. Jean Port-Royal and other Fortresses Among the Caribbee-Islands part of St. Christophers St. Bartholomew St. Crux St. Martin Guadalupe Deseado Marigalante Todos los Sanctos Martinico St. Alousie and Granada likewise some Colonies on the West of Hispaniola Upon the Continent of Southern America on the Coast of Guiana the Isle Cayene where stands the Fort of St. Michael de Ceperoux now Fort Louis also the Colonies of Mathouri and Armire Courrou Coonama and Comaribo The Portuguese possess all the Coast of Brasile in Southern America with the several Capitania's or Praefectures thereof The Dutch have onely the Isles of St. Eustace and Saba the Town of Coro in Terra Firma the Colonies Boron Esquib Berebie Aperwaque and others on the Coast of Guiana FINIS Directions for placing the Whole-sheet Prints in this Volume of America TItle The general Map of America Fol. 1 Christoffel Colonus Fol. 43 Angra op Tercera Fol. 52 Americus Vesputius Fol. 60 Ferdinand Magellanus Fol. 79 Vetus Mexico Fol. 87 Athabaliba Fol. 97 Novum Belgium quod nunc Nov. Jorck vocatur Fol. 168 Mary-Land Fol. 183 Nova Virginiae Tabula Fol. 192 Arx Carolina Fol. 205 Virginiae pars Australis Florida Fol. 213 Pagus Hispanorum in Florida Fol. 218 Yucatan Guatimala Fol. 222 Francisco de Campeche Fol. 223 Truxillo Fol. 231 Nova Hispania Nova Gallicia Guatimala Fol. 238 Nova Mexico Fol. 243 Muteczuma Fol. 253 Portus Acapulco Fol. 260 Viztlipuztli Fol. 297 Insulae Americanae in Oceano Septentrionali Fol. 304 Mappa AEstivarum Insularum alias Barmudes Fol. 311 Urbs Domingo in Hispaniola Fol. 318 Porto Rico Fol. 327 Havana Fol. 333 Jamaica Fol. 337 Urbs Martini 365 Carthagena Fol. 401 Terra Firma Regnum Granatense Popayan Fol. 408 Peru Fol. 412 Franciscus Pizarrus Fol. 429 Cusco Fol. 456 Potosi Fol. 463 Callao de Lima Fol. 466 Chili Fol. 470 Magellanica Fol. 472 Paraquaria Fol. 474 Brasile Fol. 477 Sinus omnium Sanctorum Fol. 502 Olinda Fol. 505 Ostium fluminis Paraybae Fol. 508 Itamaraca Fol. 517 Fluvius Grandis Fol. 517 Siara Fol. 517 Urbs Salvador Fol. 519 Obsidio expugnatio Portus Calvi Fol. 554 Alagoa del Zul Fol. 556 Serinhaim Fol. 580 Mauritio-Polis Fol. 604 Castrum Mauritii ad ripam Francisci Fol. 605 Arax Principis Guilielmi Fol. 605 Bonavista Fol. 606 Guiana sive Amazonum regio Fol. 607 Arx Nassovii Fol. 608 Venezuela cum parte Australi novae Andalusiae Fol. 624